Editing a patient
Update demographics, contact info, medical alerts, or insurance for an existing patient.
Overview
The patient form you used at registration is reused for edits. You can change everything except the patient number and the patient ID. Each save creates an audit log entry capturing what changed.
Prerequisites
- Owner, Admin, Dentist, Hygienist, Therapist, Nurse, or Receptionist role
- The patient already exists in the clinic
Steps
Find the patient. From the top nav, Patients. Search by name, patient number, or phone. Click the row to open the profile.
Click "Edit" in the top-right of the profile. This routes to /patients/[id]/edit — the same form layout as new-patient but pre-filled with the existing values.
Update the field(s) you want to change. The form is sectioned: Demographics, Contact, Address, Medical Alerts, Insurance, Emergency Contact. Each section is collapsible.
Add or remove medical alerts. Click Add medical alert and pick from the dropdown, or click the trash icon on an existing alert. Removing a critical alert (e.g., Penicillin allergy) requires a confirmation step.
Update insurance/HMO membership. If the patient is on an HMO, the Insurance section has provider, member ID, plan, and effective dates. The HMO module unlocks more fields here.
Click "Save changes". A toast confirms the save. The form stays on screen — the change is saved but you're not redirected.
Verify on the profile. Click Done to return to the read-only profile. Confirm the change is reflected.
Review the audit trail (optional). Open the History tab on the patient profile. The most recent edit appears with timestamp, actor, and a data file diff showing exactly which fields changed.
Expected outcome
- The
Patientrecord is updated; only the changed fields differ in the database - An audit log entry exists with category
PATIENT, actionUPDATE, data file diff of the fields changed - The patient profile shows the new values
- Any open appointment cards or invoices for this patient pick up the new contact info on next render
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Save returns "Concurrent edit detected" | Someone else edited the same patient at the same time | Reload the profile, redo your edit on top of the latest |
| Specific field is read-only | That field is locked by clinical role policy (e.g., medical alerts on a Receptionist account) | Ask a clinician to make the change |
| "Patient is archived" | Patient status is ARCHIVED | Restore the patient first via Actions → Restore |
| Change isn't visible after save | Browser caching | Hard-refresh (Cmd+Shift+R) |
| HMO section is missing | HMO module not enabled | Upgrade tier or buy the HMO addon |