If a patient has appointment and services performed by a provider in the practice, you must create an encounter from the appointment during the check-in process.
Open NextGen® Enterprise PM.
From Appointment Book, select the appointment.
Right-click an appointment and select Checkin/Create Encounter.
The Add Patient Information window opens.
If the patient does not have a chart, update necessary information in the Add Patient Information window, and then select Chart to create the patient's chart.
The Create Encounter window opens.
Select a program for the encounter.
Enter all the mandatory information marked in red to complete the patient's encounter.
Note: In Practice Preferences > Case Management, if the Allow encounter payers to differ when case is attached preference is selected, you can link a case to an appointment even if the insurance on the appointment differs from the insurance on the case.
Note: The insurance attached to the appointment is automatically linked to the encounter generated from the appointment. If the appointment insurance is marked as Self Pay, the encounter insurance is also marked as Self Pay, removing any insurance that was automatically attached to the encounter.
Note:
In Practice Preferences > Encounters, the Default previous payer(s) to encounters created in PM option is enabled by default. Disabling Default previous payer(s) to encounters created in PM option excludes previous encounter insurance from new encounters, defaulting the user to self-pay if insurance is not selected.
Similarly, when you select the Copy from last encounter - insurance preference, the system attempts to copy the insurance details from the patient's most recent encounter to the new encounter. When the Copy from last encounter - insurance preference is unchecked, the system does not copy insurance from the last encounter.
Note: To copy previous encounter details, including diagnoses and insurance, you can use the Last Enc button in the Create Encounter window after selecting options in Practice Preferences > Encounters. If the previous encounter's insurance payer is hidden, you can choose the payer in the Encounter Insurance Selection window.
Select OK.
The encounter is created and the check-in AutoFlow sequence begins.
