Encounters

The Clinical Coordinator schedules an encounter for a patient and clinician, with a visit type and planned time. As the patient arrives and care begins, the encounter status records the team’s current position. The visit start and end times give later reviewers a working interval. A completed encounter remains connected to its notes, observations, specimen events, dispensations and charges.

The encounter is the common reference for several kinds of work. A note author records what was documented, while a specimen record shows the processing state of a collected sample. A medication dispensation records the medication, lot, quantity and authorizing person. Those records answer different questions and should not be collapsed into the visit status.

• Plan. The coordinator checks the patient, clinician, visit type and scheduled time.
• Work. Arrival and in-progress states identify visits requiring action today.
• Review. awaiting review gives the reviewer a clear place to find care evidence before closure.

Choose who may move an encounter from Scheduled to Arrived and in progress. Define what staff must record before marking the visit awaiting review or Completed. Agree how cancelled visits will be retained so staff do not mistake them for finished care. The coordinator manages the encounter record; the Licensed Clinician adds clinical evidence on the linked tables, and the Clinical Reviewer inspects that evidence.

The team should decide how late entries are handled. A note signed after the visit time is still attributed to its author and encounter. The visit’s end time should describe the actual episode rather than the moment a biller opens the record. Using the correct patient and clinician references matters more than making a board look tidy.

A patient is scheduled for a morning visit. The coordinator checks the patient number and selects the planned clinician. At arrival, the team moves the encounter to Arrived; once care starts, it becomes in progress. The clinician records an observation and a signed note. If a specimen is collected, its own record tracks receipt and testing separately. The encounter can move to awaiting review when the supporting work is ready for a reviewer.

The Clinical Reviewer opens the encounter with its linked evidence and checks the care story before the coordinator closes the visit. If documentation is incomplete, keep the visit in a review state and direct the relevant person to the missing work. A status change alone does not supply a clinical note or an observation. When the visit is complete, its charge can be reviewed from the same encounter reference.

• Upcoming Encounters — See scheduled and arrived visits with the patient, clinician and time.
• Encounter Schedule — Review actual start and end times across active and completed visits.
• Encounter Status Board — Follow the current state without losing the visit owner.

See patient intake, encounter documentation and charge review.