Open the encounter
1
Choose your department
The module opens on a Select a Department grid — “Choose the department you’d like to access for consultations.” Pick yours. If that department has more than one sub-unit, choose the sub-unit next.The queue that follows covers the last 48 hours only. An empty one reads “No consultation data available in the last 48 hours.”; older encounters are under Consultation History.
2
Open the patient
What the row offers depends on its status. A Pending patient offers New consultation. A Completed one offers View consultation and Update Consultation.A new consultation lands on the Note tab; viewing or updating an existing one lands on Results.
The consultation chart
Eight tabs, plus a header row of actions that stays with you.
The header carries Back, Intakes, Upload, Check-in, Admit patient, Sign & lock and Save. Your typing is saved as you go — the chip reads Draft saved, which is exactly what it is: a draft, not a signed record.
Write the note
The Note tab has two sub-tabs, Documentation and Diagnosis (n).- Select Select template to insert a template. The popover searches as you type — “Search templates…” — and tells you plainly when nothing matches: “No template found.”
- The violet Dictate microphone opens the ambient note taker, which turns a recording into structured note text. See Generate a note with AI.
- On Diagnosis, select Add first diagnosis, then fill in the diagnosis description and “Clinical notes for this diagnosis…”. There is a separate field for “Additional clinical notes or impression…”.
Place orders
The Orders tab has four sub-tabs, each showing a live count: Medications, Labs, Imaging and Services.
Orders go straight to the unit that fulfils them — the lab, radiology and pharmacy dispensing.
Admit the patient
Select Admit patient to open the admission dialog. Once the patient is admitted the button reads Admitted and is disabled — everything else on the chart stays usable, so you can carry on documenting. Ward workflow continues in Wards.Sign and lock
Select Sign & lock when the encounter is finished. A locked record can be reopened with Unlock.Working offline
Documentation keeps working without a connection. You will see “Captured offline … It will sync when you are back online.” and an amber banner across the top. Three actions are deliberately switched off, each saying why: Sign & lock and co-signing (“Signing needs a connection”) and Admit patient (“Admission needs a connection — a bed is a shared resource”). Everything you typed is still there when you reconnect. See Working offline.Check it worked
The encounter shows as Completed in the queue, the chip has stopped saying Draft saved and the record reads as signed. Any order you placed is now visible to the unit that has to fulfil it, and the counts on the Orders sub-tabs match what you entered.If something goes wrong
Every field is read-only
Every field is read-only
Editing a consultation needs the owner, a doctor, a physiotherapist or a manager. Anyone else opens the chart read-only with no error — check your role in Roles. Signing, countersigning and admitting are separately grantable on top of that; see Permissions.
The patient is not in the queue
The patient is not in the queue
Consultation queues are filled by triage. If they are not there, they have not been triaged into your department, or they were triaged more than 48 hours ago — look under Consultation History. See Record triage.
Sign & lock will not do anything
Sign & lock will not do anything
Two causes. Either the note still has AI-generated sections you have not reviewed, or you are offline — the button says “Signing needs a connection”.
Admit patient is greyed out
Admit patient is greyed out
Either the patient is already admitted (the button then reads Admitted), or you are offline. Beds are shared between everyone in the hospital, so ClinikEHR will not let a device claim one from a queue.