Chapter 15: Patient Intake
Chapter Overview
What You'll Learn:
- How to admit a patient in full EMR (8-tab wizard)
- How billing-only Add Patient differs (4 tabs, no care order)
- Where SOC, episode timing, and payment sources live
- What happens after Admit Patient
Time to Complete: 20–25 minutes
Who Should Read This: Intake Coordinators, Agency Administrators, Clinical Managers
Path: Sidebar → Patients → /dashboard/patients
Text-only. Labels match the screen.
15.1 Patients List
Tabs:
| Tab | Who |
|---|---|
| Patients | All agency types |
| Pending Admission | Full EMR (hidden for billing-only) |
Button: Add Patient (label may vary slightly by mode).
15.2 Full EMR — Admit Wizard (8 tabs)
Open Add Patient. Work through these tabs in order:
- Demographic
- Payer
- Physician
- Clinical / Diagnosis
- Contacts
- Emergency Preparedness
- Advanced Directives
- Referral Information
There is no Pharmacy tab on intake. Assign pharmacies later on the patient chart via Pharmacy setup.
Footer buttons (new admit)
| Button | When |
|---|---|
| Cancel | Leave without admitting |
| Save Draft | Keep a pending admission |
| Continue | Next tab |
| Admit Patient | Last tab (shows Admitting... while saving) |
Edit-later footer may show Save & Continue / Save & Exit.
15.3 Demographic Tab (SOC & payment sources)
Key blocks on Demographic:
- Demographics (name, DOB, address, etc.)
- Payment Source → (M0150) Current Payment Sources for Home Care (mark all that apply) *
- Episode Timing
- Start of care → Start of care date
- Checkbox: Non-OASIS start of care (schedules Non-OASIS SOC; not sent as OASIS to CMS)
- SMS consent and related contact preferences as shown on the form
Episode / SOC are not on Clinical / Diagnosis. Admit creates the initial care order / assessment path for full EMR automatically — you do not check a separate "Create episode" box.
This is the only way to start SOC. There is no "Initiate OASIS SOC" / "Create OASIS SOC" on Care Orders or Schedule Center. After Admit Patient, the system creates the Care Order (typically Pending Assessment) and the SOC visit/assessment. Non-OASIS track uses the Non-OASIS start of care checkbox on Demographic.
15.4 Payer Tab
Configure primary insurance using the catalog / payer selectors and identifiers such as:
- Primary insurance (including unknown / to-be-verified style options when shown)
- MBI, Medicaid Number, Member ID / Group fields
- Relationship to insured
M0150 checkboxes live on Demographic, not as the whole Payer tab.
15.5 Physician, Clinical / Diagnosis, Contacts, …
| Tab | Typical content |
|---|---|
| Physician | Attending / referring physicians |
| Clinical / Diagnosis | Disciplines/services needed, DME, height/weight, ICD-10 primary/other |
| Contacts | Emergency / caregiver contacts |
| Emergency Preparedness | Emergency readiness fields |
| Advanced Directives | Advance directive information |
| Referral Information | Referral source; Face-To-Face Evaluation Information (+ date) when applicable |
15.6 After Admit (full EMR)
Admit creates an active patient and starts the care-order / assessment workflow (often Pending Assessment). From the patient chart you can open:
- Schedules / Visits / Documents
- Communications (Send SMS / Send fax when permitted)
- Admission Docs
- Pharmacy setup
- Medication Profile, Wound Care Flowsheet, etc.
Other chart actions (when applicable): Non-admit, Start New Admission.
Care order details: Chapter 16.
15.7 Billing-Only — Add Patient
Billing-only does not use the 8-tab clinical admit wizard.
Modal: Add Patient / Edit Patient
Tabs:
- Demographic
- Medical
- Payer
- Physician
Footer: Cancel · Previous · Next · Create Patient (last) / Save Changes (edit)
- No care order / SOC OASIS path
- No Pending Admission list tab
- Patient is created for billing workflows (Claims Center New Claim)
15.8 Common Mistakes
- Looking for a Pharmacy intake tab — use patient Pharmacy setup after.
- Looking for SOC on Clinical / Diagnosis — it is on Demographic.
- Expecting billing-only to create care orders — it does not.
- Forgetting Admit Patient on the last tab (draft alone does not finish admission).
- Looking for SOC creation on Schedule Center or Care Order Actions — SOC is admission-only.
15.9 Quick Checklist
- Correct path: full EMR 8 tabs vs billing-only 4 tabs
- M0150 + SOC date set on Demographic (EMR)
- Payer identifiers complete
- After admit: pharmacy / communications as needed
Previous: Chapter 14: Go Live Process
Next: Chapter 16: Care Orders