Quick Reference — To merge a patient record with an existing patient record

athenaCollector

 

You must have the Billing Admin: Delete Patient user permission to delete and merge patients.

 

If the patient record belongs to a family billing group

 

With Family Billing, the merge function provides you with a warning and instructions when the patient whose records you want to merge belongs to a family. Merges of patient records that are part of a family billing group present some risk because athenaOne does not know exactly how to transition family members through this merge. Therefore, athenahealth recommends that you do the following:

  • Note the family record numbers displayed in the warning.
  • When the merge is complete, check the merged patient record to ensure that all appropriate family members are linked to that record.
  • From the merged patient record, you can add any family members that may have been dropped during the merge.

Important: Use extreme caution. The merge is permanent: there is no "unmerge" option.

  1. Display the Quickview page for the patient record that you want to merge into another patient record.
  2. On the Quickview, click the Delete/Merge Patient button (at the bottom of the page).
    The Merge/Delete Patient page appears. If more than one possible match exists, athenaOne orders the possible matches by how closely they match the original patient record. A message appears next to each possible match, indicating whether that patient is a likely match or only a possible match.
  3. Patient ID — Enter the patient ID that you want to keep after the merge is complete.
    Caution: If you selected a possible match from the list above the Patient ID field, that patient ID appears automatically in this field. Make certain that the patient ID in this field is the one that you want to have after the merge.
  4. Click Continue.
    The Merge/Delete Patient page displays information to help you compare the two patient records.
    Note: A warning message appears if you try to merge a patient record with another record that is not a likely duplicate.
  5. Carefully review the comparison of demographic and clinical information to determine whether to merge the patient records.
    • Red boxes indicate a mismatch.
    • Black boxes indicate a match.
  6. You can click the linked patient ID number at the top of the Patient to Merge section on the right to display the patient Quickview for a closer look at the patient information that will be deleted or merged.
  7. If your practice uses athenaClinicals, some health history information may also appear. If health history information differs in the two patient records, athenaOne displays the differences.
    Note: If you merge the two records, athenaOne retains all the health history information listed under the target patient (Patient to Keep section) and deletes the information in the Patient to Merge section.
  8. Review all information to determine whether to proceed with the merge.
  9. Click Merge to permanently merge the patient records.
    A warning message asks whether you want to merge the patient records.
  10. Click OK to continue, or click Cancel to return to the patient comparison on the Merge/Delete Patient page.
    Note: All appointments, claims, charges, payments, and ticklers from both records are included in the single, merged patient record.