Counters

A counter is a number that is automatically and sequentially applied when you create a record in the application. These record counters give you a reference point when you navigate through a set of records. Setting counters enables you to designate new "start-at" numbers for a practice. For example, if you already have a numbering system in place for your charts and the last chart created was "3,786", you can set the counter for medical records to start at "3,787." You can even set the counter for "4,000" if you want to set an obvious starting point.

Below are the elements in the NextGen® Enterprise applications that have counters and in which applications the counters are visible.

Additional Counter Information

• System counters apply across all enterprises in your system. For example, once the Person Number counter is set, the person numbers for all people across all practices in all enterprise will be incremented based on the newly set counter.
• Counters that are practice-specific (Account, Encounter, and Medical Record numbers) only apply to the practice you are logged into.
• You cannot set a counter number to be a number that already exists.
• The Medical Record Number counter is the only counter that you can override. For more information, refer to Setting the Medical Record Number for Override.
• The Medical Record Number counter is the only counter that you can prevent from being used. To prevent the Medical Record Number from being added to new charts, see the section on Chart Practice Preferences.
• The Group Control Number counter is the only one that is not visible to the user.
• Associated submitter profile option sends the Claim ID Number instead of the patient control number in the 2300 CLM01 segment and associated claim print option added to print it instead of the patient control number for all claim forms.