Visits and scheduling

An encounter brings the patient, clinician and visit type onto one record. The coordinator plans its date, then follows the visit from scheduled through arrival, work in progress, review and completion. The start and end dates mark what happened during the visit. They are separate from the scheduled date and help the team distinguish a future appointment from care already delivered.

• Anchor the record. Schedule an encounter for the patient and clinician who will attend.
• Capture the evidence. Record arrival, actual start and end separately from the planned date.
• Check the handoff. Keep in progress and awaiting review visits distinct from Completed or Cancelled visits.

For a returning patient, create a new encounter instead of rewriting an earlier one. The clinician can inspect the patient context and record work against the correct visit. If a visit is cancelled, keep that state visible; if it proceeds, record arrival and start before clinical evidence is attached. A visit awaiting review should remain distinct from one completed by the coordinator.

A cancelled consultation stays in the record with its own state. When the patient rebooks, the coordinator can create a new encounter so the planned date and actual care dates are not confused.

Agree which staff member updates arrival, start and end, and what should happen when a visit is cancelled or rescheduled. Decide whether the visit type vocabulary should be standardized for your clinic. Keep one owner for correcting a patient or clinician link on an encounter; downstream notes and specimens rely on that link.

Rehearse a consultation that is scheduled, then arrives late. The coordinator changes the visit to arrived and records its actual start. The clinician adds an observation and a note against the encounter. Before completion, review the patient, clinician, time record and attached evidence. The end date should describe the completed encounter rather than merely repeat the planned appointment date.

• Active visits — Find Arrived and in progress visits that need coordination.
• Visit time record — Compare planned, start and end dates for visits already underway.

Follow the connected records in the operating process and agree the decision points before the first live visit. Use implementation to prepare sample cases with the team. Return to the data model when mapping existing patient and encounter records. The team should confirm that each role can reach the records needed for its own part of the handoff.