Patient Notes

Owned by Dylan Nigh
Last updated: Oct 16, 2023
4 min read

Each note is associated with a patient in the database. This section will outline how to create, organize, lock and archive patient notes.

 

Creating a Blank Note

Blank patient notes can be created from scratch or from a template. For either method, having a patient selected will create a New Note for them. Not having a patient selected will display a search window, allowing for the search or selection of a patient record.

To create a blank note, select the New Note node in the sidebar, and click the green plus button in the upper left corner of the MacPractice window. A blank text document will be created. The margins and default font for the note are set in the Notes Preferences.

 

Text can be typed directly into the note, pull fields can be dragged and dropped to add information from the patient's account, or Parts can be dragged and dropped to populate predefined text and data. The document can be formatted with the standard word processor tools (fonts, styles, bullet points, justification, tabs, and so on.)

Creating a Note From a Template

Several methods can be used to create a patient note from a Note Template:

  • Select the template in the sidebar and click the plus button to create a new patient note.

  • Drag the patient name or appointment from the sidebar to the Note Template in the sidebar of the Patients or Schedule ability. If the Appointment pull fields (not the Appointment Table pull fields) are present in a template, the note must be created by dragging the appointment to the note template in the sidebar of the Scheduling ability. Otherwise, MacPractice will not be able to determine which appointment's information should be pulled into the note.

  • Drag a patient's name or a list of names from the List tab in the Drawer to the Note Template (this can be done in the Patients, Schedule, or Notes abilities).

Locking a Note

A note can be locked to prevent anyone from modifying the contents. To lock a note, simply drag it from the New Note node to the Locked Note node. 

It is important to ensure everything in the Note is accurate before moving the Note. Once it has been locked it cannot be changed.

If the note has not been printed prior to locking it, an alert will display and prompt the user for a course of action. Click Don't Print to simply lock the note without printing, Cancel to return to the note without locking it, or Print to print a copy of the note and lock the record. Locked notes can still be printed at a later date, if necessary.

If the note has already been printed only a confirmation message will display. Click Lock to lock the note or Cancel to return to the note without locking it. Check "Don't ask me again" to automatically lock notes without viewing this prompt in the future.

Archiving a Note

To archive a patient note, select it in the sidebar and click the minus button in the upper left corner of the MacPractice window. A prompt will ask to confirm the archiving of the note. Click Archive to confirm the action.

 

Retrieve Archived Note

To retrieve an archived note, go to the File menu and select Retrieve Archived, and then Note from the submenu.

 

A new window will open with a list of archived notes. By default all notes will be displayed. You can use the Filter By Patient menu to view only a selected patient's notes. Check the Retrieve checkbox next to the note or notes you wish to unarchive, and click the OK button. The note will be added back to the New Note or Locked node, depending on whether the note was locked before it was archived.

 

Notes and Incidents

Each patient note is associated to an incident. Select the incident from the Incident menu in the upper right corner of the note (to the right of the Title field).

Depending on your Preference settings, notes associated to archived incidents may be hidden in the Notes ability.

Display Notes in the Ledger

The View Options menu can be toggled to display a patient's notes as line items in the ledger. The note will be displayed in the incident it is associated to. Double clicking on the note will open a preview window. The note cannot be edited from here - this must be done within the Notes Ability.