Documentation
Returned documents
Every page NeatPractice prints for a patient carries a return code, so signed or returned paper files itself to the right chart when you upload or fax it back.
When paper goes out and comes back signed, nobody should have to sort it. NeatPractice prints a small square code and the same code in text at the bottom of every page of the documents it makes for patients and outside offices. When those pages come back, by fax or as a scan you upload, NeatPractice reads the codes and files each document to the right chart.
Which documents carry a return code#
- Notes, evaluations, progress reports and plans of care, signed or printed as a draft
- Denial appeal letters
- Fax cover pages
- Payment receipts and agency invoices
Claim forms, reports, list prints and exports never carry one. The code is random: it holds no patient details, so it is safe on paper that leaves the clinic. Each print gets its own code, so a returned copy always points to the exact printout it came from.
Upload returned pages#
- In the Docs panel of the main menu, open Returned documents, or open the Inbox under Faxes and pick Upload Returns from the page menu.
- Click Upload Returns, then drop your files or click to browse. You can add up to 20 PDF, PNG or JPEG files at once, up to 50 MB each.
- Click Upload.
Pages can be in any order and can mix several documents. NeatPractice groups the pages of each document, puts them back in page order and checks that every page came back.
What happens to the pages#
- A complete document from your clinic is added to the patient's Documents as a new file, in the category chosen when it was faxed out, or your first active category. The original record is never changed.
- A returned plan of care is also logged on its physician certification as returned by fax or by upload. Check the signature on the pages, then record it as described in Plan of care certification. NeatPractice never records a signature for you.
- Anything else waits in Returned documents with Needs filing and the reason.
A fax that comes back is read the same way. If its pages carry return codes, the fax is split into its documents and shows Split into returned documents in the fax inbox. A fax that only has the older barcode on its cover still files whole to the chart, as described in Fax documents and the fax inbox.
Work the needs-filing list#
Returned documents opens filtered to Needs filing, oldest first. Remove the status filter to see filed and dismissed documents too. Each row says what the document is, how many pages it has and which reason applies:
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| No readable code | No code could be read on these pages, such as a handwritten note or a very poor scan. |
| Missing pages | Some printed pages did not come back. The row lists them, such as Page 2 of 3 missing. |
| Unknown code | The code looks like one of yours, but no printout in your clinic has it. |
| Code from another clinic | Another clinic printed these pages. Nothing about that clinic is shown. |
| No patient on the original | The printout was not for one patient, such as an agency invoice. |
| No document category | Your clinic has no active document category to file into. |
| File could not be read | The file was damaged or not really a PDF or image. |
- Click the document's name to read the pages in a side panel. Download saves a copy.
- Click File to Chart, pick the patient and the category, and click File. If the code under the square symbol is readable but the symbol was not, type it in Printed code and click Look Up Code. NeatPractice shows the document it belongs to and fills in its patient; a code that belongs to one patient can only be filed to that patient. Changing the code clears the match, so look up the new code before filing, or clear the code to file the pages without linking them to an original.
- Click Dismiss for blank, duplicate or misdirected pages, and say why. Dismissed pages are kept on record.