Encounters and beds

An encounter connects a patient and clinician to a particular visit or admission. Its scheduled, started and ended times tell the team when care was expected and when it actually occurred. Visit type gives local context for the case. Registration Coordinator acknowledges arrival with the actual start time; the clinician then carries the encounter through active care and review. The Business Overview page shows the state distribution and a filterable encounter queue for daily coordination.

A bed assignment points to an encounter and records ward, bed number, assignment time and release time. That lets Ward Coordinator explain who occupied a bed at a given point in the visit. It is a separate record because occupancy can change while the clinical encounter remains open. Releasing a bed and ending an encounter are separate staff decisions; the team should check both during handoff.

• Arrival. Registration Coordinator moves the encounter from Scheduled to Arrived with its actual start.
• In-care work. Clinician uses the encounter to connect notes, observations, diagnostic orders and charges.
• Occupancy. Ward Coordinator records each bed placement and release against the relevant encounter.

Agree when staff create an encounter for a scheduled appointment and how they handle a walk-in. Decide who records the actual start and end, who checks the visit type, and when a case enters awaiting review. Define ward and bed naming so that two staff members do not describe the same physical place differently. Ward Coordinator should have a clear procedure for releasing an assignment before that bed is given to another encounter.

A patient arrives for an appointment and needs inpatient care. Registration Coordinator finds the patient and records the encounter’s actual start before changing it to Arrived. Ward Coordinator enters a bed assignment with ward, bed number and assignment time. Clinician starts care, records measurements and a note, and sets the encounter in progress. Later, the clinician places it awaiting review while another clinician checks the diagnostic result. Only after the review is complete does the team end and complete the encounter. Ward Coordinator records the release time when the bed is vacated.

Check an exception: if the patient changes beds, keep the earlier assignment with its release time and create the next placement against the same encounter. This preserves the occupancy sequence. The encounter workboard and review queue support different decisions: one tracks active care, while the other brings cases awaiting clinical review into focus.

• Active encounter workboard — See arrived, in-care and awaiting-review visits by patient and clinician.
• Encounter review queue — Find cases ready for the next clinical decision.
• My encounters — Focus a clinician on encounters assigned to them.

Use visit intake and care delivery to rehearse the handoff.