Ensuring that appointments are completed within ChiroHD is a crucial aspect of your office workflow. It serves as more than just a routine task; it acts as a pivotal checkpoint to ensure that essential information for each visit is properly documented, including services rendered and SOAP notes. At ChiroHD, we consider these elements non-negotiable and believe that an appointment cannot be deemed "completed" without them.
Overview
In ChiroHD, appointments are tracked using a system that marks them as either Complete or Incomplete. This system ensures that all required tasks for each appointment are finished, including recording charges and completing SOAP notes.
Requirements for Marking an Appointment as Complete
To mark an appointment as Complete, the following criteria must be met:
Appointment on the calendar: The appointment must be recorded for that day.
Charges on The Ledger: Charges must be entered, representing the services provided to the patient (this does not refer to payments).
SOAP note completion: The SOAP note must be either finalized or saved as a draft.
Note, it is an added bonus to also make sure that the patient has a future appointment scheduled when completing an appointment.
These are the base requirements for ChiroHD, though your office may have additional standards. If all three are satisfied, the appointment is considered complete.
How to Use the Autocomplete Feature
You have the option to manually mark appointments as Complete or use the Autocomplete feature.
To enable autocomplete:
Navigate to Live Location Settings.
Go to Office Configuration.
Toggle Auto-Complete Appointments.
How Autocomplete Works
On the day of the appointment, charges must be entered, and the SOAP note must be finalized or saved as a draft. Both tasks must be done from any SOAP Note screen.
Adding Charges
Manually: Click the Charges box and enter charges.
Automatically: Default charges, if set up, will be pulled over automatically from the patient's case.
In any of the SOAP Notes screens, you can manually add services or let default charges populate automatically.
Completing the SOAP Note
You can either submit the SOAP note or save it as a draft. These actions, combined with entering charges, will ensure the appointment is marked complete automatically on the same day as the appointment.
Important Note:
The autocomplete feature does not work when using the Visits tab to edit a SOAP note. Charges cannot be added from this tab. It’s recommended to use the SOAP Note screen for daily workflows to ensure charges and notes are entered correctly.
Manually Marking an Appointment as Complete
If auto-complete is not enabled or the criteria aren't met, appointments must be manually completed.
Before marking an appointment as completed manually, ensure:
An appointment exists on the calendar.
Charges on the ledger correspond to the services received, with dates matching the appointment day.
A SOAP note is completed or drafted with a matching appointment date.
Manual completion can be done via:
Dropdown arrow on the patient's appointment > select "Completed."
Adding charges via transaction modal with the appointment date selected and completing the appointment.
Clicking the green "Complete Appointment" button on the patient's snapshot (only available on the appointment day).
Managing Incomplete Appointments
If an appointment isn’t marked as complete by the end of the day, it will appear in the Incomplete Queue. A large number of incomplete appointments can indicate a problem with your office's workflow or understanding of the system.
Developing a workflow that ensures appointment completion moving forward is highly recommended. This proactive approach safeguards essential documentation and streamlines your operations.
If your incomplete queue is significant post-migration, please reach out to our Support team for further assistance.
By adhering to these guidelines and utilizing the features available in ChiroHD, you can maintain an organized and efficient appointment completion process, ensuring accurate documentation and enhancing patient care.
How to Monitor and Clean Up the Incomplete Queue
Your Incomplete Queue should be checked daily or at least weekly. It’s a key part of your office's check-and-balance system.
To clear incomplete appointments:
Identify what’s missing (charges, SOAP notes, etc.).
Add the missing information.
Mark the appointment as complete.
Backdating Charges to Clear Incomplete Appointments
If charges need to be added for a past appointment, you can:
Open the patient's snapshot and click on New Transaction
Backdate the transaction to the date of the appointment.
Link the charges to the correct appointment.
Mark the appointment as complete when prompted.
Once this is done, the appointment will leave your Incomplete Queue.
Understanding Appointment Statuses
Scheduled
Appointment is present on the calendar.
Arrived
An appointment can be marked as arrived manually by the office via the drop-down arrow on the appointment. An appointment can be marked as arrived by the patient by: checking in at the check-in device, texting Here to their confirmed text reminder, or clicking on the Check-in button in the app.
Arrived as Walk-in
Patient bypassed the front desk and checked in via the check-in device, but they did not have an appointment scheduled on the calendar.
Treated
A SOAP note has been submitted or saved as a draft from any of the SOPA Notes screens.
Completed
An appointment has met the necessary requirements (details above), and was completed by the auto-complete feature or the office manually marked the appointment as completed.
Missed
An appointment was not marked as arrived due to the patient not showing up for their appointment, or the appointment was not arrived by mistake. An appointment can be marked as missed by the auto-missed feature or by manually marking an appointment as missed.
Conclusion
Whether using the Auto-complete feature or manually marking appointments as complete, it’s important to maintain accurate records. Regularly monitoring your Incomplete Queue ensures that all necessary information is entered for each appointment, keeping your office workflow running smoothly.