Schedule an Appointment

Patients that are walk-ins, or are to be otherwise scheduled for today may be added to the current appointment list through the Patients Checked-In column of the Patient Flow screen.

NOTE:  
To schedule an appointment for a different day, see the Patient Management section of this chapter.

Schedule an appointment and add a patient to Today’s Appointments

Click the Add button at the top of the Today's Appointment's column. This button will take you to a screen where you can choose a patient to add to today’s appointment schedule.


This screen has many options that offer you different ways to choose a current patient, add a new patient, assign group alerts to patients, or remove a patient.

You can view the patient list by those patients who are active or inactive, or view all patients by clicking the button above the patient list to toggle through these options:

You can choose the sorting of this list by using the "Find by" buttons to sort by last name, first name, or account number:

You can set up the on-screen keyboard in either ABCDEF fashion, or in standard computer QWERTY fashion. Choose whichever layout is more comfortable for you. 

If you would like to see the selected patient’s information displayed instead of the on-screen keyboard, click the Patient Information button at the top:


Patient Information

If you choose to view the selected patient's information, this screen displays basic patient demographics, appointment history, date of illness onset, treatment plan, current diagnosis, insurance information, and the option to view either patient notes, treatment plan notes, insurance notes, patient ledger notes, or insurance ledger notes.

NOTE:  
You may not change the patient's information through this screen. Patient Information for more information on modifying a patient's information.

Add a new patient

  1. Click the New Patient button in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. A New Patient dialog box appears.
  1. Enter the patient’s information in this dialog box.
    • Select the New Patient check box if this patient should be counted as a new patient.
    • Select the patient’s Provider and Case Type from the available drop-down menus.
    • To change the type of phone number to be listed for this patient, select the down arrows to the left of the Home and Work fields and select a new type from the list.
    • If you would like to manually assign an account number to this patient, enter it in the Account No. field. If you would like the system to assign an account number for you, leave this field blank. When this field is left blank, ChiroTouch auto-assigns the next account number in the system.
  2. Click the OK button.

Find an existing patient

  1. Find an existing patient by entering either their name or their account number in the patient search field at the top of the screen. Click the appropriate button in the Find by area at the bottom of the screen to select one of these search options.
  2. Once you have selected your patient, click the Next>> button to proceed to the provider’s schedule and select a time slot for your patient.
  3. The system displays the schedule for the patient’s primary provider. The schedule screen allows you to choose another provider's schedule, compare and choose a provider for the appointment, select a time slot and length for your patient’s appointment, assign a provider to the appointment, or assign your current patient to the provider’s wait list. 
    • Assign Appointment SlotClosed - Click a bar corresponding to a time slot to assign a time to the appointment. The patient’s name appears on the line for the time selected.
    • Appointment LengthClosed - To adjust the appointment length, click the left or right arrows in the Appt Length field at the bottom of this screen.
    • Show PurposeClosed - Select whether you want to view or hide the purpose of the current appointments. To view or hide appointment purposes, select or deselect the "Show Purpose" checkbox at the bottom of the screen.
    • ProviderClosed– To reassign the provider for this appointment, click the Provider button. A Change Provider dialog box appears. Select a provider from the list and click the "OK" button to assign the selected provider to this appointment. To scroll through the list of providers, click the up and down arrows to the right of the provider list.
    • ScheduleClosed – Use this button to view and compare provider schedules. You may view up to three provider schedules at one time.
    • Wait ListClosed – If there are no open appointments, you may place your patient on the waiting list. Click the Wait List button, and click inside the Waiting List area to add your patient to the waiting list. This waiting list applies to all providers; therefore, your patient appears on the waiting list regardless of which provider schedule you are viewing.
  4. Once you have selected a time slot and provider for this appointment, click the Next>> button below this screen.
  5. A Purpose of Visit dialog box appears, allowing you to assign a purpose to your patient’s visit, as well as assign an appointment color.
  6. Select your patient’s visit purpose and appointment colors, and click the OK button. You may select one or more visit purposes for your patient.
  7. N O T E    
    Appointment colors help determine the purpose of your patient’s appointment when viewing the Patient Flow screen. The next screen asks you to confirm your appointment. You may also add appointment notes here that are displayed to the front desk when checking in the patient.
  8. N O T E    
    Clicking Cancel button returns you to the Patient Flow screen and cancel all of your new appointment information. To retain your new appointment and make updates, click the OK button and then double-click your patient’s appointment in the Today’sAppointments column of the Patient Flow screen.
  9. If you assigned your patient to the wait list, their name appears at the top of the Today's Appointments column below any arrived patients, and Wait List displays to the right of their name.

Appointment-Creator Identifier

The Appointment Details screen will display essential information about this appointment, including who scheduled the appointment and when. To access this dialog, double-click the patient appointment either from:

The Update Appointment dialog, highlighting the appointment creator information: