Over the course of treatment a patient may start and stop treatment more than once. To retain and group records for each and every admission, SOS employs a concept called Care Episodes. For every new patient, the system will automatically create a Care Episode when you save the basic demographics (account ID, name, and birthdate). This initial Care Episode appears on the Care Episodes tab of the patient record, and is automatically designated as the “Active Care Episode” on the Patient Screen header.
Double-click the episode entry on the Care Episodes list to view or change several key values.
As you can see in the Care Episode detail screen above, this is where you can enter important data such as the patient’s primary provider, intake date, and discharge date. The Care Episode is also where you:
- Create one or more Claim Setups to enter data needed to file insurance claims for services rendered during this Claim Episode.
- Specify patient discounts and sliding scale fees.
- Add and Review diagnoses relevant to this episode.
- Keep track of treatment programs in which the patient has been enrolled.
- Keep track of treatment groups in which the patient participated.
Here is a diagram that might help…
Note that one of the differences between the Standard and Pro versions of SOS G5 is that in the Standard Version you can create only one Claim Setup in each episode. In the Pro version, you can create as many as you like. For further discussion of the differences between the two versions, please see the article titled “Differences between the Standard and Pro Versions of SOS G5“.
See also:
Creating Claim Setups
Creating a Patient Diagnosis/Problem List
Managing a Patient’s Program Enrollments
Managing a Patient’s Group Memberships
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