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Procedure

Write a discharge summary

Write a discharge summary in Atlas, pull together the diagnoses, treatment and follow up, and produce a copy the patient takes home.

Write a discharge summary in Atlas, pull together the diagnoses, treatment and follow up, and produce a copy the patient takes home. The discharge surface is where you gather the visit into a clean release, and the summary is the form you fill inside it.

Where the summary lives

The discharge summary is a form on the discharge surface. You fill it with the diagnoses, the treatment given and the follow up, and it prints on the hospital's letterhead as a copy the patient takes home.

Write the discharge summary

  1. 1

    Open the discharge surface

    On the record, choose Discharge on the info-bar. Atlas opens the discharge sections down the side, each with its own completion status, so you see at a glance what is done and what remains.

  2. 2

    Fill the summary

    In Templates, open the discharge summary. Pull together the diagnoses, the treatment given and the follow up. Known details fill in for you, so you add the rest and read it through. Finishing the form locks it, so the copy the patient takes reads the same as the record.

  3. 3

    Set how the visit went

    In Diagnosis, confirm the diagnoses and the primary, and choose the outcome: cured, improved, unchanged, worsened, referred or deceased. This is the line that says how the visit ended.

  4. 4

    Check readiness

    Choose Check Readiness. Atlas checks each section and lists what remains: an open order, a required form still to fill, a flag to clear, or the account.

  5. 5

    Clear the blockers

    Work through each blocker it lists. Complete or cancel an open order. Fill a required form. Settle or arrange the account at the billing counter. Each one you resolve turns its section green.

  6. 6

    Initiate, then discharge

    Choose Initiate, then Discharge. Atlas re-runs every check fresh and closes the visit once each one passes. The visit moves to completed, and the patient moves to the discharged list.

  7. 7

    Produce the copy

    Print the discharge summary. It prints on the hospital's letterhead as a document the patient takes home, so they leave with a clear account of the stay and the follow up.

The discharge sections

The surface gathers the visit into sections. Each one carries its own status, so the release waits for the parts that genuinely need attention.

SectionWhat it holds
DiagnosisThe visit's diagnoses, the primary, and how the visit went.
TemplatesThe discharge summary and any required forms.
CadencesThe processes that run to completion for the visit.
OrdersEvery order for the visit, with any open one flagged.
SentinelsThe alerts set to fire when the discharge initiates.
FinanceThe account clearance from the billing counter.
ReasonThe completion reason for the visit.

Discharge waits on the account

For an inpatient, emergency or day-care visit, the billing counter clears the account and the Discharge button then opens. For an outpatient cash visit that needs no clearance, discharge is a single step. The account gate runs for every completion reason, so a clean release always carries a settled or arranged account.

Common questions

Can I discharge with an open order?

Complete or cancel the order first. An open order is a blocker the readiness check lists, so the release waits until it is closed.

Where does the patient's copy come from?

The discharge summary prints on the hospital's letterhead as a document, so the patient leaves with a copy of the stay and the follow up.

The account is still open at discharge.

The billing counter settles or arranges it. The Discharge button opens once the account clears, so the two steps stay in step.

Read how discharge gathers a visit to a clean close, and how the discharge finance gate clears the account.

Clear the account at the billing counter so the release completes.