Documents

The Documents tab on a patient's chart holds the files that belong to that patient: referrals and orders, insurance cards, signed consents, records from other providers, school reports and letters. You see the tab only if your role lets you view patient documents.

If you see only your caseload, a category your clinic keeps to its own discipline or to chosen credentials shows only the files you may read (see Sharing across disciplines). A file takes the discipline of the note or visit it is attached to, else that of whoever uploaded it; a file with neither is shared. Files you uploaded always show.

Upload a document#

1. Open the patient's chart and click the Documents tab.
2. Click Upload Document.
3. Choose the file, pick a Category, and optionally add the Document date (the date on the paper itself, such as when a referral was signed) and a Description.
4. Click Upload.

You can upload PDF, PNG, JPEG, HEIC and TIFF images, Word (.docx) and Excel (.xlsx) files, plain text and short MP4 videos, up to 50 MB each. NeatPractice checks that the file really is the type its name says before it accepts it.

Find a document#

The list shows the newest documents first. Click Filter to narrow it by category, document date or status, and click a column header to sort by document name, category, document date, size, status or when it was added.

Documents across your patients#

Open Patient documents in the Patients panel of the main menu to see the files on every chart you can see, newest first, at the location you are working in. Each row shows the patient and chart number with the file's details and the same View, Download, Fax, Edit details and Delete actions as the chart's tab.

• Pick patients in the patient panel to see only their files and move between patients without opening each chart.
• Use the Category filter, sort from the column headers, or type a patient's name, a chart number, a file name or a description in the search box.
• With exactly one patient picked, click Upload Document to add a file to that patient's chart.

Intake and records summary#

When your clinic turns it on, the Intake and records summary card above the list summarizes the intake answers, referrals and the outside records on file. See AI summaries.

Required documents#

When your clinic marks categories as required (see document categories), the chart's Documents tab shows a Required documents list above the files: each required category with Current, Expiring soon, Expired or Missing, its expiry date and the file on record. Choose Upload on a row to upload a copy straight into that category; when the category's copies expire, enter the Expires on date.

Open Required documents in the Patients panel of the main menu to see every missing, expired or expiring required document across the patients you can see, worst first. Filter by Status, or pick patients in the patient panel. The list can also be added to your dashboard as a table.

Requested files#

When you need a file from the family, such as an insurance card, a school plan or an outside report, ask for it from the chart's Documents tab:

1. In Requested files, click Request File.
2. Name the File and choose where it goes on the chart (Files under). Add a Due date and, under Note to the family, a short instruction if you want.
3. Add the request to an intake packet so the family can upload it from home. Their upload lands on the chart in the chosen category, is checked for malware like any upload, and the request turns Received.

From a request's menu:

• Record reminder notes that you reminded the family; the count and date show on the row. A request past its due date shows Overdue.
• Mark received links a file the family sent another way. Upload it to the chart first, then choose it.
• Edit changes a pending request, and Cancel request withdraws it and removes it from the family's packet.

Requests are never deleted; cancelled and received ones stay on the list.

View or download#

Click a document's name to open it. PDFs and PNG or JPEG images open in a viewer inside NeatPractice; click Download in the viewer to save a copy. Other file types, such as Word files, download straight away. You can also use View or Download in the row's menu.

Every view and every download is recorded in the patient access log, separately, so the clinic can tell a document seen on screen from a copy saved to a computer.

Upload a new version#

When a document is replaced, such as a referral that comes back with the missing signature page or an insurance card that was renewed, upload it as a new version instead of a separate document. Choose Upload new version in the row's menu, pick the file and click Upload Version. The new version keeps the category; you can change its date, expiry and description.

Once the new file passes the malware check it takes the place of the earlier one in the list. Earlier versions never change: choose Version history in the row's menu to see every version, when it was added and when it was replaced, and to open or download any of them. An earlier version that has not expired yet still counts toward the chart's required documents.

If a new version was uploaded by mistake, delete it: the version before it becomes current again. Earlier versions cannot be edited or deleted on their own.

Change a document's details#

Choose Edit details in the row's menu to rename the document, move it to another category, or change its date or description. The file itself never changes. You need permission to upload patient documents to do this.

A document marked Received came from another clinic through a chart transfer. It stays exactly as it arrived: it has no Edit details or Upload new version.

Delete a document#

Choose Delete in the row's menu, say why the document is being removed (for example, "Filed to the wrong chart"), and click Delete. The document leaves the chart, but NeatPractice keeps the file and your reason in the change history. Only people whose role includes deleting patient documents see this option.

A patient with documents on file can no longer be deleted. Make the patient inactive instead.

Categories#

Categories are the same for every chart. Your clinic starts with Referrals and orders, Insurance, Consents, Outside records, School records, Correspondence and Other. To add, rename or retire categories, see Document categories.