Patient Status

By default, when a Patient Folder is created, it is assigned an Active status. In most situations, an Active status is appropriate for a patient. However, different statuses may be used for prescription processing and reporting reasons.

Select the applicable tab to learn about the different patient statuses in your province.

Animal and Out of Province Patient Statuses

In Saskatchewan, Animal or Out of Province patient statuses bypass the EHR. Prescriptions filled for these patients appear on the Non-DIS Transactions report, which is automatically sent to PIP on the first day of each month. You may need to reverse prescriptions if the Patient Folder was set incorrectly to either status.

The patient status should never be changed to bypass the EHR. All dispenses in Saskatchewan should be submitted to EHR.

Hospitalized Patient Status

The Hospitalized patient status excludes the patient from batch processing.

If a patient is hospitalized, it's best practice to change their patient status accordingly rather than remove them from the group. When a patient is removed from a non-retail group, the Group Rx Statuses for all their prescriptions are removed and not automatically reinstated when they are added back to the group.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, when the patient status is Active, Deceased, Hospitalized, Obsolete, Out of Province, or Inactive:

  • PHN is required.

  • Messages are transmitted to the EHR.

  • EHR buttons are enabled.

  • Patient History is updated if the patient status is changed.

Animal Patient Status

The Animal patient status is not associated with EHR functionality.

When dispensing a prescription for an Animal, the following alert displays in Rx Detail to ensure the user is aware of the patient status.

The status of a patient cannot be updated to Animal if Client Registry activity exists for that patient. The following validation prompt appears:

The Animal patient status should not be used to bypass transmitting prescriptions to the EHR. All prescriptions must be transmitted to the EHR and any prescriptions that are not may be monitored or audited.

Inactive Status

Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Network (NLPN) permits pharmacies to nullify synchronized Client Registry records. Nullifying a patient means the Patient Folder was synchronized with the Client Registry in error. Nullifying a patient is only permitted when the patient has had no activity with the EHR. Propel Rx initiates the nullify patient process when a synchronized Patient Folder is changed to Inactive status.

Nullifying a patient is not permitted if:

  • The Patient Folder has never been synchronized

  • Clinical information or prescriptions have been transmitted to the EHR; or

  • Any EHR queries have been made for the patient

To nullify a patient:

  1. Open the Patient Folder.

  2. On the Main tab, dropdown the Status field and select Inactive.

  3. Select Save. A processing message appears as the nullify message is transmitted.

    • If any EHR clinical or prescription history exists, the following validation displays:

      • EHR Sync'd appears in the Patient Folder information bar.

      • The patient status is changed to Inactive locally.

      • A Patient History row is added.

    • If the nullify action was successful, the following updates are made:

      • EHR Not Sync'd appears in the Patient Folder information bar.

      • The patient status is updated to Inactive.

      • A Patient History row is added.

If a patient was nullified in error, the patient CANNOT be reactivated as a previously nullified patient cannot be resynchronized. If attempting to reactivate a nullified patient, the following prompt displays:

A new Patient Folder must be created and synchronized to the EHR. To reduce confusion on which Patient Folder to use, the nullified Patient Folder can be merged with the new Patient Folder once the new Patient Folder is synchronized. For more information, see Patient Merge.

Hospitalized Patient Status

The Hospitalized patient status excludes the patient from batch processing.

If a patient is hospitalized, it's best practice to change their patient status accordingly rather than remove them from the group. When a patient is removed from a non-retail group, the Group Rx Statuses for all their prescriptions are removed and not automatically reinstated when they are added back to the group.

Doctor Office and Pharmacy Patient Statuses

The Doctor Office and Pharmacy patient statuses bypass all interaction checking. MAR reports also cannot be generated for these patients.

Hospitalized Patient Status

The Hospitalized patient status excludes the patient from batch processing.

If a patient is hospitalized, it's best practice to change their patient status accordingly rather than remove them from the group. When a patient is removed from a non-retail group, the Group Rx Statuses for all their prescriptions are removed and not automatically reinstated when they are added back to the group.