Encounter planning

The Clinical Coordinator creates an encounter for a patient and clinician, sets the scheduled date and records the visit type. That encounter becomes the reference for notes, observations, specimens, dispensations and charges. The scheduled list helps the coordinator prepare today’s work; the status board separates arrivals, care in progress and encounters waiting for review. A returning patient’s new visit is a new encounter linked to the existing patient.

The schedule is a list of planned patient encounters. The encounter record gives the clinical team one place to track each visit and its attached evidence. Use the scheduled date and clinician together during preparation so staff can identify the right patient episode.

• Book. Clinical Coordinator records the patient, clinician, scheduled date and visit type.
• Run the visit. The team moves the encounter from Scheduled to Arrived and in progress as care begins.
• Review and finish. Clinical Reviewer inspects the evidence; the coordinator records awaiting review and Completed when the handoff is complete.

Start and end dates help the team compare planned work with recorded care. The status values also include Cancelled, so a cancelled visit stays distinguishable from one that occurred. A note or specimen belongs to an encounter, which means staff should select the correct visit before entering clinical evidence.

Decide what the visit type means locally and who is allowed to change the scheduled date. Agree how the coordinator will identify a duplicate booking and how clinicians are notified about their assigned visits. Set a clear practice for recording arrival, actual start and end, and the point when an encounter is ready for review. The Clinical Reviewer has read access to encounters and evidence, while the Clinical Coordinator manages encounter records.

Run a rehearsal with a cancelled visit as well as a completed one. The team should know which status to choose when a patient does not proceed and what follow-up remains attached to that patient. Agree where supporting details are documented in the clinical note rather than creating extra meanings for the visit type.

A coordinator books a returning patient for a scheduled visit and assigns a clinician. On the day, the coordinator marks arrival. The clinician starts care, adds a note and observations, and links any specimen to that encounter. Once the evidence is ready, the case appears awaiting review. The reviewer checks the encounter and its related documentation; the coordinator completes the encounter after the review handoff.

If the visit is cancelled before care begins, mark it Cancelled and retain the patient and clinician link. The next planned visit can then be a separate encounter, leaving the earlier booking understandable.

• Scheduled encounters — Planned and arrived visits with patient, clinician and scheduled date.
• My encounters — Visits assigned to a clinician for the current operating cycle.
• Encounter status board — Visits grouped by their active status for daily coordination.

See encounter preparation and care documentation. Use the data model when mapping an existing patient list and visit history.