Set up and manage patients

Enter and update patient details and reminders using the Patient Information window. Information should be entered as you want it to appear in windows, reports and when printed. Entered information also populates patient bookmarks that can be used in document templates. 

Setup a new patient

Navigate by going to any of the following;

• Toolbar > Patient > New or Update 
• Patient Clipboard > right-click patient list > New or Update
• Search Clients/Patients > Patient search tab > New or right-click card > Patient Information 

Information tab

Patient name, demographics and owner details are entered and maintained on this tab.

Some information may display automatically based on patient default settings. Example: classification, species.

1. Patient ID: Do one of the following when starting a new patient record:
   • Press the tab key to accept the auto-generated ID and move to the Name field.
   • Manually enter a Patient ID and press the tab key twice to move to the Name field.
2. Name: Enter the patient’s name (up to 30 characters/spaces for names). Special character use is not recommended.
3. Status: Modify the status as needed.
   • Marking a patient as Inactive or Deceased will prompt to remove future appointments. Click Yes or No.
     • If the patient also has a future boarding reservation, click OK at the reminder to update the reservation. 
     • Selecting Deceased displays a calendar with the current date. Change the date as needed.
4. Classification: Select the appropriate classification. Classification settings determine if there is a patient or whiteboard alert.
5. Sex: Select the appropriate gender from the list.
6. Birthdate: Enter either the birth date or the age. Entry for one calculates the other. 
7. Species: Select the species from the drop-down list. 
8. Breed: type the first few letters of the primary breed and then select from the drop-down list. Example: for a French bulldog, type bull; for a Golden Retriever, type ret).
9. Color: Type the first few letters of the primary color and then select from the drop-down list. Color can also be free typed. 
10. Markings: Free type any notable markings, up to 30 character/spaces.
11. Weight / Body Score: If the information is available, and you prefer to enter the information during the patient entry/update process, do one of the following: 
    • New patient: Enter your staff ID and the patient’s weight details in the provided fields. You can also enter a body score if this vital sign has been activated for your practice. 
    • Existing patient: Click the Vital Signs/Weight button to enter a current weight and if desired, click the add more Vital signs link to open the full Vital Signs entry and viewing window.  
12. Owners:  If blank, enter the client ID or double-click to access the patient owner Information window.
    • F2 in Client field to search and select from the Client List.
    • For multiple owner patients, add each client ID.
      • Set the appropriate % of ownership and indicate which owners are to receive reminders. 
      • All current owners must equal 100% ownership.
13. Trainer/Barn: If using the trainer and barn feature, do the following: 
    • Enter the client ID or F2 to search and select from the Client List in the corresponding Trainer and/or Barn fields.
    • Select Send Rmd to send the patient’s reminders to the trainer or barn instead of the owner.  
14. Microchip ID: Enter a microchip number, if available.  
15. Registration: Enter information, if available 
16. Rabies tag: New patient entry only, click Add Existing Rabies Tag to document a tag that was issued elsewhere.
    • Enter tag number details.
    • Updating an existing patient will display their most recent rabes tag information.  
17. Select one of the other tabs to enter or update additional information or click OK to save and close the patient information window. 

Letter Reminders

This tab populates and updates accordingly when the patient is invoiced for items with linked letter reminders to generate and satisfy. This information:

• Is used to print postcards, letters or email reminders.
• Can be set to print on the Check-in report and invoice.
• Populates vaccine or reminder bookmarks for documents.

Add letter reminder information

1. Enter item ID or F2 to search and select from the Invoice Item List. 
2. Enter/modify the due date. 
3. Enter the appropriate Staff ID, if needed. 
4. Click Note button, if needed, to enter any details about the manually added reminder and click OK. 
5. Repeat steps for additional reminders as needed. 

Update letter reminder information

1. Change a single reminder’s due date, to any of the following:  
   • Type over the date using mm/dd/yyyy format. 
   • Use up/down arrows to change month/day/year, based on cursor placement. 
   • Double-click date field to pick a date from a calendar. 
2. Change multiple reminder due dates: 
   • Click the row number to the far left of each reminder. 
   • Click Change Date. 
   • Select Change date or Increase months, and then enter the new date or number of months accordingly:
     • use change date to set all selected reminders to same date.
     • use increase months to advance all selected reminders’ date by the same number of months. 
   • Click OK. 
3. Change Staff ID: Overtype the staff ID and TAB or F2 to search and select a different staff ID. 
4. Change reminder note: Click Note button and enter corrected note and click OK.  
5. Change reminder: Overtype the Item ID field and TAB or F2 to search and select a different item. 

Delete reminder information

1. Delete reminder information: Click the Item ID of the reminder and press CTRL+D.  

Print reminder information

1. Click Print. 
2. Select one of the following: 
   • Client All Patients > Reminder Letter Report or Reminder Recall Report 
   • Selected Patient only > Reminder Letter Report or Reminder Recall Report 
   • Health Certificate (requires document setup and designation in Practice Defaults) 
3. Select one of the other tabs to enter or update additional information or click OK to save and close the patient information window. 

Call Backs

This tab populates and updates accordingly when the patient is invoiced for items with linked call reminders to generate. This information can be set to print on the Check-in report and appears on the Call Backs tab of the Daily Planner until the reminder is completed. 

Add call back reminder information

1. Enter item ID or F2 to search and select from the Invoice Item List. 
2. Enter/modify the due date. 
3. Enter the Staff ID of the responsible staff to perform the callback. 
4. Click Note button, if needed, to enter any details.  
   • Enter recording staff ID. 
   • Update status to Pending or Completed, if applicable. Open and Pending status call backs display on the Daily Planner Call Backs tab. 
   • Enter notes or click Select Note to insert a premade note entry. 
   • Click Spell Check and address any spelling errors. 
   • Click OK. Notes are date timed stamped, and added to patient record when Pending or Completed status is selected. 
5. Repeat steps for additional reminders as needed. 

Update call back reminder information

1. Change a single reminder’s due date, do any of the following:  
   • Type over the date using mm/dd/yyyy format. 
   • Use up/down arrows to change month/day/year, based on cursor placement. 
   • Double-click date field to pick a date from a calendar. 
2. Change multiple reminder due dates: 
   • Click the row number to the far left of each reminder. 
   • Click Change Date. 
   • Select Change date or Increase months, and then enter the new date or number of months accordingly:
     • use change date to set all selected reminders to same date.
     • use increase months to advance all selected reminders’ date by the same number of months. 
   • Click OK. 
3. Change Staff ID: Overtype the staff ID and press the tab key, or F2 to search and select a different staff ID. 
4. Add an additional note, if needed. Click Note and:  
   • Enter recording staff ID. 
   • Update status to Pending or Completed, if applicable. Open and Pending status call backs display on the Daily Planner Call Backs tab. 
   • Enter notes or click Select Note to insert a premade note entry. 
   • Click Spell Check and address any spelling errors. 
   • Click OK. Notes are date timed stamped, and added to patient record when Pending or Completed status is selected. 
5. Change reminder: Overtype the Item ID field and TAB or F2 to search and select a different item. Only Open status callbacks can be changed.

Delete reminder information

1. Delete reminder information: Click the Item ID of the reminder and press CTRL+D.  

Print reminder information

1. Click Print.
2. Select one of the following: 
   • Client All Patients > Reminder Letter Report or Reminder Recall Report 
   • Selected Patient only > Reminder Letter Report or Reminder Recall Report 
   • Health Certificate (requires document setup and designation in Practice Defaults).
3. Select one of the other tabs to enter or update additional information or click OK to save and close the patient information window. 

Prompts/Notes tab

Prompts are standard and customized information fields that can also be set as patient alerts. Notes provide a free-type field. Both prompts and notes can be included on the Check-in report.

• Entered information populates the prompts/notes patient tab on the Patient Clipboard.
• Use the user defined patient bookmarks in documents, to pull the prompt information into documents.

1. Prompts: Enter or select the answer to each prompt as applicable.
2. Notes: Enter any notes concerning the patient.
3. Select one of the other tabs to enter or update additional information or click OK to save and close the patient record.

Referrals tab

Add and track a patient’s referring veterinarian(s), if using. Referral information is used for end of period referral reporting. You must have at least one doctor and one hospital set up under Lists > Referrals to add the information to a patient.

1. Select the referring doctor from the Doctor drop-down list.  
2. Select the referring hospital from the Hospital drop-down list, if the doctor is associated with more than one hospital. 
3. Repeat for any additional doctors, if needed. 
4. Select the Primary option for the appropriate rDVM, if more than one doctor is listed for a patient.
5. Select This visit for each doctor (including the primary doctor) to receive communications (email/fax). 
6. To remove a doctor entered in error, select the row and press CTRL + D.  
7. Select one of the other tabs to enter or update additional information or click OK to save and close the patient record.

Pet picture

The patient’s picture can display in the Pet Picture box on many windows throughout Cornerstone. The steps to add, update and change the picture are the same from any of the windows with the Pet Picture box.

Example: any tab of the Patient Information window, Patient Visit List (PVL), Estimate, Invoice, Cornerstone Editor (patient document). 

Picture image file sizes should not exceed 500 KB. File formats of bmp, jpg, or png can be used. 

• Add a pet picture (from file) 
  • Right-click in the patient picture field > Capture > File  
  • Browse to the saved file location, then click Open. 
  • Edit the picture (crop, rotate, flip) using the Modify steps below. 
  • Use these steps to replace an existing picture. 
    
• Add a pet picture (from TWAIN) 
  • Right-click in the patient picture field > Capture > TWAIN  
  • Choose your device from the Select Source list. The software you use opens.  
  • Use the software for the image device as usual. Depending on your device software, the image may automatically import or you may have to manually return to Cornerstone. 
• Modify a pet picture 
  • Right-click in the patient picture field > Update. 
  • Edit the picture as needed using the buttons in the Image Toolbox 
  • Click Close from the toolbox, then click Yes to save you changes or No to discard. 
• Remove a pet picture 
  • Right-click in the patient picture field > Delete. 

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.

• Client/Patient Master Report 
• Deceased Patient report
• Patient Prompts report 
• Reminder Letter Report 
• Reminder Recall Report 
• Snapshot Species reports (Active/Inactive/Deceased Patients, Invoices and Sales by species) 
• Initial Patient Setup Report