Patient and encounter intake

A patient record carries a patient number, name, birth date, phone, consent state and assigned clinician. The coordinator attaches each visit to that patient and a clinician, then records its type and scheduled time. A returning patient can have a separate encounter for each visit.

• Patient identity. The Clinical Coordinator uses the patient number to separate similarly named people.
• Visit ownership. Each encounter names its patient and clinician and carries its own schedule and status.
• Return visit. A new encounter keeps later specimens and notes apart from earlier care.

A patient arriving for specimen collection moves from scheduled to arrived. The coordinator checks the patient reference before recording the start. The clinician then uses that encounter as the anchor for the specimen and any notes. A cancelled appointment retains its own state without changing the patient identity.

Agree how patient numbers are assigned and checked when staff create a patient. The Clinical Coordinator can manage both patient and encounter records. Decide who records the planned time and visit type, who changes Scheduled to Arrived, and when the actual start and end dates are entered. Keep cancelled visits visible in their own state rather than reusing them for a new appointment.

Set up the clinician as a named person before assigning a visit. The Licensed Clinician can view Encounters but the published role does not manage their status. The coordinator owns that update. Rehearse a patient with two visits and check that each visit carries the intended clinician and schedule before a specimen or note is attached.

Create two patients with similar names and different patient numbers. Schedule an encounter for one patient, attach the intended clinician, and have the coordinator mark the arrival and care start. Ask the clinician to open the encounter and identify the patient number before recording a specimen. Check that the other patient’s record cannot be selected by name alone without detection.

Add a return visit for the first patient. Give it a different schedule and keep its encounter reference distinct. Attach a specimen only to that visit, then have the reviewer trace the accession back to the patient. Rehearse a cancelled appointment as another state; it must not become the return visit’s working record.

• Encounter Intake — Visit arrivals with patient and clinician.
• Encounter Schedule — Starts and ends beside the current visit state.

Read encounter and specimen handling for the intake handoff and review and closeout for the final visit decision.