Before you can create encounter notes, prescriptions, and so on, the patient must exist in your system.
After you add a patient, you can upload a picture of the patient, or assign them an avatar. For more information, visit Updating patient avatars (chart pictures).
💡 Tips:
You can also add patients from the patient search window, or when adding an appointment to the schedule.
In Ontario, if you have a health card swipe reader, you can swipe the patient’s card to quickly add them. For more information, visit Using a swipe card reader (Ontario).
📌 Note: For PEI users, add the patient from the provincial Client Registry instead of with the steps below. Refer to Adding a patient from the Client Registry to the CHR (PEI) for more information.
Steps
1. From the main menu, click Patients.
2. In the top-right corner, click New Patient. The New Patient window opens, where you can add all the pertinent demographic information for the patient.
3. From the General tab, enter the patient demographic information. First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Sex, and Identifications are required.
📌 Note: The patient age, date of birth, sex, and gender identity also appear at the top of the patient chart. These items can be copied to your clipboard with one single click and then pasted where you need it using Ctrl{Cmd}+P on your keyboard.
Most of the fields are self-explanatory, with the following clarifications:
Field | Description |
Title | Read-only; updates when you select a Prefix.
If you do not specify a prefix, the title defaults to Mr., Ms., or Mx. based on the gender identity or sex selected.
📌 Note: The CHR uses the Title as a patient variable in patient notifications. |
Prefix | Select from a variety of titles, such as Dr, Miss, Rev. The prefix is added as the patient’s Title.
If you do not specify a prefix, the default titles Mr., Ms., or Mx. are used according to the patient’s gender identity or sex.
📌 Note: The CHR uses the Title as a patient variable in patient notifications. |
Notification | Select the patient's preferred method to receive communications such as appointment notifications and Qnaires.
Options are None, Email and SMS, Email Only, SMS Only. You can change this at the time of sending the notification. |
Primary practitioner | The provider who cares for this patient in your practice. |
Primary location | If you have more than one location set up, select the primary location where this patient is seen.
📌 Note: When adding a patient without an appointment to a Pathway, the system checks if their Primary location is CHR Connect enabled. If so, the patient is notified to join the virtual visit through CHR Connect. If not, they're directed to the patient portal. If no primary location is assigned, the clinic's primary location is used for guidance.
📌 Note: If you are using role-based access control to limit user access to patients based on location, you must select a location for the patient. If a patient does not have a specified location, all users will have to "break the glass" to access the patient's chart. |
Referring practitioner | If your clinic is a specialist clinic, or if you send consult letters to the referring provider, filling this field is important. Your bills automatically insert the referring provider information, which is required by many provincial insurers in order for the provider to get paid.
When you book an appointment, the referring practitioner is associated with the appointment.
📌 Note: The Referring Practitioner (RP) saved to an appointment does not change if it is updated in the patient chart after creating the appointment.
In addition, when you fax a signed encounter letter, when you click the Letter button in the top-right corner, the Referring practitioner's fax number (if entered in your contacts list) is automatically inserted. |
Identifications | Generally the patient's provincial health number. For more information, refer to Adding or editing a patient's identifications. |
4. From the Portal tab, select whether to enable the patient's access to the patient portal and e-booking for appointments. For more information, visit Enabling and customizing the patient portal.
5. Click Save or Save and validate when you are done. The patient chart opens.
📌 Notes:
If you do not see the Save and validate button in your CHR, contact the TELUS Health support team through the support chat for more information.
If you clicked Save and validate, today’s date appears below Identifications. To learn more, visit Updating and validating patient demographics.
📌 Note: If the last name, first name, and identification match an existing patient's, you are warned that this may be a duplicate and are prompted to confirm whether you still want to create the patient.
Updated February 10, 2025