Admit and discharge a patient from the Whiteboard

Patients can be added to the whiteboard through the check in process or added manually, and discharged automatically through the invoicing process or removed manually. 

Adding a patient to the Whiteboard

A patient must be selected as an Inpatient to be added to the Whiteboard automatically. You can select this status using the Patient Check-in/out window, Daily Planner Checked-in tab or Census List. Manually add a patient from the Patient Clipboard or Whiteboard window. 

Check in the patient or update a checked-in patient

Select the Inpatient option to automatically place the patient on the Whiteboard upon check-in. Based on reason for visit settings, Inpatient may be preselected for you.
Example: Surgery or Dental.

From the Patient Check-in/out window

Navigate to either:

• Right-click Appointment > Check in. 
• Patient Clipboard > right-click patient > Check In.  

1. Select Inpatient. Based on reason for visit settings, Inpatient may be preselected for you. Example: Surgery or dental.
   
2. Click Check in. 

From the Daily Planner

Navigate to Checked-in tab > Right-click the patient > Update.  

1. Do the following in the Check-in/out window: 
   • Change the reason for visit, if needed.
   • Select Inpatient. Based on reason for visit settings, Inpatient may be preselected for you. Example: Surgery or Dental.
2. Click Update.  

From the Census List

Navigate to Census List, > Select the patient > click Update. 

1. Do one the following in the Check-in/out window: 
   • Change the reason for visit, if needed.
   • Select Inpatient. Based on reason for visit settings, Inpatient may be preselected for you. Example: Surgery or Dental.
2. Click Update.  

Manually add a patient

From the Patient Clipboard

Navigate to Right-click the patient’s name > Electronic Whiteboard > Patient Orders.  

1. The patient’s information displays in the Patient Orders window with Inpatient status selected by default. Modify as needed. 
2. Enter additional information as needed/available. Note: A Supervising and Current Care doctor must be entered. These can be the same provider and changed as needed. 
3. Select Critical to flag a patient as such and display the Critical icon for the patient on all Electronic Whiteboard windows, Patient Clipboard, the Check-in/out window, and the Census List window.  
4. Select a Primary reason for visit. The designated reason color displays as a dot on Whiteboard main window.
5. Select or enter a Secondary reason for visit. If entered, this displays on the Whiteboard main window in place of the Primary reason description. 
6. Modify the Admit and Discharge date/time details.
   • Admit date/time defaults to current system date/time. 
   • Discharge defaults to 3 days from the current date. Information can be updated as needed. 
7. Enter the Supervising ID or F2 to search and select from the staff list. Typically, this is the admitting doctor. 
8. Enter the Current Care ID or F2 to search and select from the staff list. Displays on Whiteboard main window and is typically doctor making medical decisions for the patient for the day/shift. 
9. Enter Cage details (name, number, etc.).
10. Select a Ward. This is general location of the patient and can be used as a filter for the whiteboard main window. 
11. Add whiteboard Alerts if needed, click Edit and do the following: 
    • Select the alert from the drop down or manually enter an alert in the text box. Maximum of 20 alphanumeric characters/spaces. Note: alert type will display as Manually entered.
    • Click Add.   
    • Continue as needed for additional alerts. 
    • Click OK to exit the alert list. 
12. Do one of the following: 
    • Click OK to finish adding patient and return to the Clipboard and enter orders at another time. 
    • Continue to add patient orders.

From the Whiteboard

Navigate to Toolbar > Whiteboard > right-click in patient column > Orders for New Patient.  

1. Do one of the following: 
   • Select a recently accessed patient from the ID field drop down. 
   • Enter the patient’s ID. 
   • F2 to search and select the patient from the patient list.  
2. The Inpatient status is selected by default. Modify as needed. 
3. Enter additional information as needed/available. Note: a Supervising and Current Care doctor must be entered. These can be the same provider and changed as needed. 
4. Select Critical to flag a patient as such and display the Critical icon for the patient on all Electronic Whiteboard windows, the Check-in/out window, and the Census List window.  
5. Select a Primary reason for visit. Designated reason color displays as a dot on Whiteboard main window.
6. Select or enter a Secondary reason for visit. If entered, displays on Whiteboard main window in place of the Primary reason description. 
7. Modify the Admit and Discharge date/time details. Admit date/time defaults to current system date/time. Discharge defaults to 3 days from current date. Information can be updated as needed. 
8. Enter the Supervising ID or F2 to search and select from the staff list. Typically, this is the admitting doctor. 
9. Enter the Current Care ID or F2 to search and select from the staff list. Displays on Whiteboard main window and is typically doctor making medical decisions for the patient for the day/shift. 
10. Enter Cage details (name, number, etc.) 
11. Select a Ward. This is the general location of the patient and can be used as a filter for the whiteboard main window. 
12. Add whiteboard Alerts if needed, click Edit and do the following: 
    • Select the alert from the drop down or manually enter an alert in the text box. Maximum of 20 alphanumeric characters/spaces. Note: alert type will display as Manually entered.
    • Click Add.   
    • Continue as needed for additional alerts. 
    • Click OK to exit the alert list. 
13. Do one of the following: 
    • Click OK to finish adding patient and return to the main Whiteboard and enter orders at another time. 
    • Continue to add patient orders.

Discharging a patient

Posting an invoice will automatically remove a patient from the whiteboard unless the Check out patients option is deselected in the Post Invoice window. Whiteboard defaults will determine if a patient not at ready to go status or with uncompleted treatments can be invoiced. As needed, patients can also be manually removed in cases where an invoice is not needed at the time or patient entered in error. 

Invoicing method (automatic removal)

Before you invoice the patient, do the follow from the Whiteboard.

• Open the Patient Orders window.
• Check for uncompleted treatments. Either complete them, mark them as not performed or discontinue the patient order. 
  • In the Patients column on the Whiteboard (main grid) window, right-click in the patient’s block and select Patient Orders.  
• Change an inpatient’s status to Ready to go home, or an equivalent custom status that contains one of these keywords: Ready, Home, Pick, Release, or discharge.
  • From the Status drop-down list in the Patient Orders window, select Ready to go home (or custom status equivalent).  
• Click OK to save the change and return to the Whiteboard.  

The updated status displays in the patient’s block in the Patients column. 

Note: You can also update the status from the Patient Check-in/out window, select Ready to go home from the Status drop-down list, and click Update. Navigate to one of the windows by doing the following:

• Right-click Appointment > Check in
• Patient Clipboard > right-click patient > Check In  
• Daily Planner > Checked-in tab > Right-click the patient > Update
• Census List > Select the patient > click Update 

1. Create and post an invoice for the client.  
   • If the patient is not at a ready status or uncompleted treatments exist, a message will display, based on whiteboard defaults. Do one of the following, depending on how the default is set: 
     • Set as a warning: Click Yes or No to proceed or pause invoicing. It is recommended to check with your medical team before proceeding. 
       
     • Set to stop: Work with medical team to ensure patient status and any uncompleted treatments are addressed. 
     • Set to manager override: A team member with appropriate security access must be available. Click Yes or No to proceed. When clicking yes, the login window displays. Once a manager staff ID and password have been entered, posting can continue under the logged in user.
       
2. In the Post Invoice window, verify the Check-out patient option is selected. 
3. Once the invoice is posted, the patient’s status changes to Discharged and/or is removed from the Whiteboard, based on whiteboard default settings for discharged patient display. 

Removing a patient (manual method)

You can manually remove a patient from the Whiteboard without creating and posting an invoice. This is useful in the following situations:

• A patient was added in error.
• A boarding patient needed a single medical service, which has been completed, and they are staying an additional week.
• The patient is deceased and billing will occur at a later time.

Note: If this removal method is used, staff will still need to complete other applicable client/patient processing tasks such as invoicing and check out. The patient is still displayed on the Daily Planner Checked-in tab and Census List.

1. In the Patients column on the Whiteboard (main grid) window, right-click in the patient’s block and select Remove from Whiteboard.
   
2. Do one of the following:
   • If the patient does not have any orders, proceed to next step.
   • If the patient has orders, the Patient Orders window opens. Click Remove from Whiteboard.
     
3. Select a hospital status for the patient from the New status drop-down list.
   
4. Click OK.
5. Click Yes or No to confirm the patient removal.

The patient is marked as Discharged and may continue to display on the Whiteboard, depending on the length of time set in Whiteboard default settings. You can also right-click the list of Whiteboard patients and select Hide Discharged Patients.

Additional information

Related Reports

These Cornerstone reports provide information from the actions outlined in this article. Each report has its own security access under the Reports tab of the Security Setup window. 

Whiteboard Patient Orders Report

Use the Patient Orders Report to review treatment orders entered for patients that have been admitted as inpatients within Cornerstone. Ex: when transferring a patient to another facility. This can also serve as an audit trail for when orders were entered and changed, based on logged in user.

Note: This is a historical report and can be run after a patient has been discharged. 

• You can generate a list of patient orders based on: 
  • Selected date or date ranges  
  • Patient ID  
  • Attending (supervising) doctor ID  
  • Current doctor ID  
  • Changed staff ID (if the original orders have been changed, lists the logged in staff who changed the orders)  
    Note: The Patient Orders Report does not include treatment status (Completed, Scheduled, Did Not Perform). To see the treatment status, generate a Patient Treatment Report. 

Navigate to Reports > Find a Report > Patient > Whiteboard Patient Orders Report.  

1. Click Create report.  
2. In the Range area, enter any criteria to view select information on the report. If you do not enter criteria, the report uses the default range, which includes all patient orders for the current date.  
3. Do one of the following:  
   • Click Preview to view the report in the Reports Preview window.  
   • Click Print to set print options and print the report.  
   • Click Save As to specify a file name and type for saving the data to a file.  
     Example: To generate a listing of patient orders assigned to the current care doctor for today, set up the first Range criteria line to use Date for the Description and set the Starting value and Ending value fields to the current date. Then, with And selected in the And/Or list, on the next line, select Current Doctor ID from the Description list and enter the appropriate staff ID in the Starting value and Ending value fields. You can also press F2 in these fields to search for and select the staff member from the Staff List.
     

Whiteboard Patient Treatment report

The Patient Treatment Report lists scheduled, completed, not performed, and overdue treatments for selected patients. This report can include blank fields for quantity, time, notes, and staff initials for scheduled treatments. These fields can be filled in as staff provides treatments for patients. Later, using these lists as a reference, the treatments can be completed on the Whiteboard. This is useful in event of a patient transfer for overnight care or if there is an anticipated service or power outage. 

Note: This report is available only while the patient is listed on the Whiteboard. Once the patient is discharged, the report is no longer available. 

Navigate to any of the following:

• Toolbar > Whiteboard > right-click a patient’s information block > View/Print Selected Day or View/Print Prior 24 Hours.
• Patient Treatments window > right-click anywhere within the Treatments grid > View/Print Selected Day or View/Print Prior 24 Hours.
• Reports > Find a Report > Patient > Whiteboard Patient Treatments Report.

1. Click Create report.
2. Select a sort order to indicate how to arrange the information on the report.
3. If you are generating the report for more than one patient, and you want to print the treatment orders on separate pages for each patient, select the Page break on patient check box.
4. Depending on how you accessed the report, the Begin Patient ID and End Patient ID fields may already contain the ID of your selected patient.
   • You can use these fields to specify a range of patients. Press F2 in these fields to search for and select a patient from the Patient List.
   • Leave these fields blank to print the report for all patients on the Whiteboard.
5. If necessary, use the Begin Date and End Date fields to narrow the report to a specific date or date range.
6. If necessary, use the Begin time and End time fields to narrow the report to a specific time frame.
7. Within the following lists, select criteria to narrow the information included in the report:
   • Treatment Status
   • Patient Status
   • Current Doctor
   • Ward Location
   • Area
   • Staff Classification
   • Category
8. Click Preview.
9. Do one of the following:
   • Print: Print the report to a selected printer.
   • Save: Save the data from the report to a file.
   • Cancel: Exit the report and return to the Whiteboard Reports criteria window.

Other Resources

• Electronic Whiteboard quick reference guide