Starting a consultation
Begin a clinical visit, capture chief complaint, and link to the treatment plan.
Overview
A consultation captures everything that happens in a single visit — the chief complaint, exam findings, treatments performed, prescriptions, and follow-up plan. Most consultations start automatically when the dentist clicks Start visit from the queue, but you can also start one ad-hoc.
Prerequisites
- Clinical role
- A patient with a
CHECKED_INappointment, or any registered patient (for ad-hoc consults)
Steps
Start from the queue (preferred). Queue → Start visit on the patient's card. The consultation opens with the appointment context attached.
Or start ad-hoc. Top nav Consultations → + New Consultation. Pick the patient from the search; choose appointment if applicable.
Fill in the chief complaint. Single sentence: "Tooth pain on lower-left", "Routine cleaning", "Bracket replacement". Visible at a glance later when reviewing the patient's history.
Review medical alerts. Red banners at the top show every active alert. Acknowledge each by clicking — this records you saw it before proceeding.
Examine and chart. Open the Dental Chart tab. Click teeth to mark conditions (caries, restoration, missing, mobility). The chart auto-saves on every interaction. See Chart overview.
Record clinical notes. Open the Notes tab. Free-text or template-based. Each save creates a draft; final lock happens at completion.
Add or update the treatment plan. Treatments tab. Add procedures performed today and queue future visits. See Treatment plans.
Issue prescriptions if needed. Prescriptions card → + New prescription. The drug database lookup auto-checks for allergies and interactions. See Writing a prescription.
Complete and lock the consultation. When the visit is over, click Complete visit. See Completing a consultation.
Expected outcome
- A new Visit entry exists with clinic, patient, dentist, appointment (optional),
chiefComplaint, status IN_PROGRESS - Chart, notes, treatment, prescription artifacts are linked to the visit ID
- Active Visits widget shows the in-progress visit
- Autosave confirms each field as it's saved
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Start visit missing | Patient not checked in | Have front-desk check them in first |
| Chief complaint required | Form validation | Type at least one word |
| Medical alert acknowledgement won't dismiss | Some severe alerts require typing the alert name | Read the prompt — it's a safety check |
| Chart won't auto-save | Network glitch | Yellow indicator at the top means autosave failed; click Retry save |
| Multiple active visits | Started a second without completing the first | Complete or pause the previous |