Create an Appointment for a Provisional Patient

If you don't have enough information about a patient to record all the minimum demographic information, but they still need to be attended to, create a provisional patient.

Before you begin

Permissions:
  • View Appointments
  • View All Appointment Books
  • Create Appointments
  • Edit Appointments
  • Delete Appointments
  • Create Visits and Arrive Appointments

About this task

Typically a provisional patient is one who is unconscious or incapacitated, and unknown to the healthcare facility. There may be times where you need to create an appointment for such a patient, and Helix provides for this.

While you can create appointments for provisional patients, you can't record their visit until you capture more information about them.

Procedure

To create an appointment:
  1. From the main menu, select Appointments IconAppointments.
  2. After you have opened the Appointments IconAppointments book, if there are no schedules visible, click Manage AppointmentsManage to add one or more appointment schedules.
    For more information about configuring schedule views, see View Appointment Schedules.Appointments - Manage
  3. In the Appointments section, select either Day, Week, or Month view to locate an available time slot.
    Tip:
    The Month view cannot be used to record appointments.
  4. In the Appointments section, select Add appointmentsAppointment > Appointment.
    Provisional Patient
    Tip:
    Alternatively, locate and double-click a time slot in the calendar to record the appointment.
  5. In the Select Patient field, enter the patient's name, and then select Add patient name from the list.
    Add New patient
  6. You are redirected to the Patient details panel:
    • Record at least the mandatory patient details such as Sex at birth, Surname, First Name, Date of birth, and one Contact number.

    • However, if you are unable to record the mandatory patient details, click Close IconClose.

    • You will be prompted that the record is incomplete, but you can ignore this warning, because a provisional patient record will be created for you.
  7. From the HCP list, select the required practitioner.
  8. From the Appointment type list, select an appointment type.
    Appointment type
    You can create or customise the appointment types and configure (activate) them separately for each practitioner in the Appointment book settings. For more information, see Managing Appointment Types and Configuring a Provider's Appointment Settings.
  9. In the Consult via field, select the required consult option from the list.
    For more information about telehealth consultation, see Telehealth Appointments.
  10. In the Date & time field, choose the appointment date from the calendar, and then select From and To times from the list.
    Tip:
    • The duration of the appointment is displayed to the right side of the time selectors.
    • The appointment's end time is limited to 11:59 PM for the selected date. For example, if the start time is 11:45 PM and the default duration for the appointment type is 30 minutes, the appointment's end time is 11:59 PM.
    • In the Appointment book settings, set the default duration for each appointment type if required. For more information, see Managing Appointment Types.
    • You cannot set a recurring event or caution when you create an appointment for a provisional patient.
  11. In the Billing field, select the required billing type from the list.
    Note:
    The default billing type is the centre's default billing type.
  12. In the Description field, enter further information about the appointment if required.
  13. To confirm and create an appointment for a patient, click Create appointment.

Results

A new appointment is created, and the Appointment details panel is displayed.
Add appointment for existing patient panel
Note:
Helix does not send an SMS reminder to a provisional patient.

What to do next

  1. If required, update the appointment visit details, such as billing, appointment type, COVID-19 and so on.

  2. To confirm changes, click Save.

    The appointment is saved in the Appointments panel. It indicates that Reserved for provisional patient in the Appointments IconAppointments book.
    New Provisional Patient Appointment

    To edit an appointment's details, click Appointment details - IconEdit.

    If a patient does not arrive for an appointment, click Did not attend ButtonDid not attend.

    To delete an appointment, click Delete appointmentDelete.

  3. When the provisional patient arrives for their appointment, they must be validated before a visit can be created:
    • Locate and double-click their appointment.
    • In the Patient Details window, click Validate Provisional Patient.
    • The required fields are flagged. Complete the patient information, after which you can record a visit for this patient. For more information, see Create a Visit.