Tracking Patients in the Patient Flow - Documentation

This guide will walk you through OpenEMR's Flow Board - a visual representation tool that provides an at-a-glance overview of where every patient is in the process from check-in to check-out. This view is helpful for providers to quickly see and track the paitents for today.

What is the Flow Board?

The Flow Board is a digital dashboard that tracks the status of all scheduled appointments for the day. It helps improve communication between the front desk, clinical staff, and providers, ensuring a smooth and timely patient experience.

Step 1 - Accessing the Flow Board

From the Main Menu, click on Flow at the top of the screen.

Step 2 - Get Familiar with the Flow Board

The Flow Board is separated into two main sections. The top section is the filter criteria and the bottom is the board itself.

By default, the board will show all appointments for today. The Flow Board has the following filter criteria:

Visit Categories
Visit Status
Facilities
Providers
From and to dates
Quick search by patient name or ID

The board will show all patient appointments that fit the criteria. The board has the following columns: * PID - Patient ID * Patient - Patient name * Encounter - Encounter ID * Appt Date - Date of the appointment * Appt Time - Time of scheduled appointment * Arrive Time - Time the appointment status was updated to "Arrived" * Appt Status - Appointment status, e.g. Pending, Arrived, In Exam Room * Current Status - Amount of time patient has been in current status * Visit Type - Visit type or category, e.g. New Patient * Total Time - Total amount of time a patient has been since arrival * Check Out Time - Time visit status updated to checking out * Updated By - User that most recently updated the status

Step 3 - Updating the The Flow State

The visit status can be updated in many different places. The preferred method will depend on user role and personal preference, and any changes will be reflected for all users so that everyone can easily track a patient throughout their appointment.

Here a few ways to update visit status:

Flow Board - Click on Appt Status
Calendar - Click on the appointment time and update status in the popup modal
Patient chart - From the Dashboard, click on the appointment, and update the appointment from the popup modal

Step 4 - Flow Board Viewing Options

The Flow Board can be used to display patient status on an external monitor in a common area or a daily tool for individual users.

Personal use - Click on the patient name to jump to the patient chart. Settings has the option to open the patient chart in a new window. Use the arrow button to hide or show the filter criteria.
Monitor display - Use Kiosk mode to show the board in full screen. This view can be helpful if your practice wants to display the patient statuses on a monitor.
Print - Users have the option to print the flow board

The Flow Board will periodically update, though users have the option to manually Refresh.