Patient access

Registration Coordinator uses the patient number and display name to find the person receiving care. Contact phone and birth date support a careful identity check before a new appointment is made. An existing patient should keep the same patient record across visits. A clinician can be assigned to the patient, while the appointment identifies the clinician and department for that particular visit. Those assignments answer different questions and should be reviewed separately.

Consent has its own record with purpose, version, document, signature date, expiration date and status. Check the relevant consent before the visit proceeds. A patient-level consent status can help the team find records needing attention, but the signed document and its purpose carry the actual decision context. If a patient withdraws consent, staff need to review the affected work instead of treating an older signed version as current permission.

• Patient identity. Registration Coordinator keeps the patient number, name, birth date and contact route together.
• Visit booking. The appointment connects patient, clinician and department to its scheduled start and end.
• Arrival. Registration Coordinator distinguishes a confirmed booking from an arrived patient and opens the encounter for the visit.

Agree how staff find an existing patient before registering another. Decide who may change contact details and which person checks a consent document against its purpose and expiration. Set the department list and identify the clinical lead for each department. Agree who is allowed to confirm appointments and who acknowledges arrival. A single patient may have several appointments, so the team needs a clear booking identifier when discussing a particular visit.

Suppose a patient calls for a clinic appointment and already has a patient number. Registration Coordinator checks that record, selects the intended clinician and department, and enters the time window. The booking begins Requested and becomes Confirmed after the team accepts it. On arrival, staff mark the appointment Arrived and create or find the relevant encounter. The encounter records when the visit actually began; the planned appointment time remains the scheduling reference. A clinician opening the encounter can see the patient identity without relying on a duplicate registration.

Review a cancellation as well. A cancelled booking should remain distinguishable from a completed visit, and a new booking should have its own time window. During a busy intake period, the appointment workboard shows requested, confirmed and arrived work without turning each saved screen into another patient record.

• Appointment schedule — Review upcoming time windows, assigned clinicians and arrival state.
• Appointment workboard — Follow requests through confirmation and arrival by department.

Continue with visit intake and care delivery.