Providers & Clinical Staff

PROVIDERS & CLINICAL STAFF | NAVIGATING THE PATIENT CHART |   15-MINUTE READ

After reading this article, you will be able to navigate the DrChrono patient chart, understand what each key section contains, and identify what can be documented directly from the clinical note.

Before You Begin

Overview

The patient chart is the central record for everything about a patient. Every appointment, clinical note, prescription, lab result, insurance record, and billing history is stored here — organized into tabs and sections that give your team a complete picture of the patient at a glance. Understanding how the chart is laid out helps you find what you need quickly and ensures nothing gets missed before or during a visit.

The chart is also a live document. Certain sections update automatically as the clinical encounter progresses — particularly when information is documented directly from the clinical note, which keeps your team from having to enter the same data twice.

A First Look at the Patient Chart

This tutorial will walk you through the key sections of the DrChrono patient chart and where information lives.

Key Sections of the Patient Chart

Patient Summary
The Patient Summary is a condensed page of essential information about the patient including problems, medications, allergies, locked clinical notes, pertinent documents, and care plans. It is a great resource for seeing a snapshot of patient details in one single place.

Demographics
The Demographics tab holds the patient's personal information — name, date of birth, address, contact details, insurance information, care team and preferred pharmacies. This is also where emergency contacts, responsible party and patient flag information are stored. 

Appointments
The Appointments tab shows the patient's full visit history — past, current, and upcoming appointments — with direct links to the clinical notes associated with each visit. This is the fastest way to pull up documentation from a previous encounter.

Documents
The Documents tab stores uploaded files associated with the patient — referral letters, outside records, imaging reports, consent forms, and anything else your team has attached to the chart. Documents can be uploaded manually or received via eFax in your Message Center.

Eligibility
The Eligibility tab is where real-time eligibility checks can be run to verify coverage before a visit. You can also view past eligibility checks in this section.

Tasks
View any tasks associated with this patient along with who is assigned and the status of each task.

Problem List
The Problem List tab is the patient's ongoing diagnosis history — a running list of conditions being actively managed or previously treated. Diagnosis codes added during an encounter in the clinical note can be carried forward to the Problem List, keeping the patient's history current without duplicate entry.

Medication List
The Medication List tab displays the patient's active medication list, historical prescriptions, and any medications documented by previous providers. Prescriptions sent via eRx appear here automatically. Providers can also view and manage the medication list directly from within the clinical note during an encounter.

Allergy List
The Allergy List tab documents known drug, food, and environmental allergies. DrChrono's e-prescribing module cross-references this list when a prescription is sent and will alert the provider if a conflict is detected.

Lab Orders
The Lab Orders tab displays lab orders and results associated with the patient. Results received electronically through a connected lab interface (e.g. LabCorp, Quest, Health Gorilla) populate here automatically.

Role-Specific Notes

Providers: The patient chart is your primary clinical reference before and during every encounter. Review the Medications, Problems, and Allergies tabs before documenting a new visit to ensure your note reflects an accurate and complete picture of the patient's history. Information you document in the clinical note will update the relevant chart sections automatically.

Clinical Staff (RN/MA): Your primary interactions with the chart will be in Demographics, Insurance & Eligibility, Vitals, and Documents. Verify that patient information is current before the provider enters the room. If you notice missing or outdated information in any section, update it before the visit begins rather than during.

What Happens Next

With the patient chart reviewed and the encounter documented, the next step is signing and locking the clinical note to finalize the record and move the visit into the billing workflow. See: [Documenting a Clinical Note → link]

Troubleshooting

Q: A section of the patient chart is missing or grayed out — what do I do?
A: Section visibility is controlled by your account permissions. However, if you are missing a section on the left-sided menu of the chart, you can tap the pencil icon at the top of the menu and look for any sections where the view icon is grayed out. If still unable to find what you are looking for, contact your Practice Administrator to verify your role has access to the section you need.

Q: A prescription I sent doesn't appear in the Medications tab — what do I check?
A: Confirm the prescription was successfully transmitted by checking the Outgoing Prescriptions report. If it shows as sent but isn't appearing in the Medications tab, refresh the chart and check again. If the issue persists, start a chat with us and we'll investigate.

Q: Lab results aren't appearing in the Labs tab — why?
A: Results populate automatically only if your practice has a connected lab interface configured. If results are being received outside of DrChrono and need to be attached manually, use the Documents tab to upload them. Contact your Practice Administrator to confirm your lab integration status.

Q: The patient's insurance information in the chart doesn't match what they presented at check-in — what do I do?
A: Update the Insurance tab in Demographics with the current information and run a real-time eligibility check before the visit proceeds. See: How to Add, Edit, and Archive Patient Insurance

Helpful Resources

Patient Chart

• How to Search for a Patient — Web & iPad
• Overview of the Insurance and Eligibility Screen
• How to Add, Edit, and Archive Patient Insurance
• Requesting an Eligibility Check and Viewing Eligibility History
• Printing Your Patient's Medication List
• Best Practices for Check-In

Labs & Documents

• Uploading Multiple Documents for Different Patients
• Ordering Labs from the Patient Chart

PROVIDERS & CLINICAL STAFF | DOCUMENTING A CLINICAL NOTE |   15-MINUTE READ

After reading this article, you will be able to open a clinical note from a patient appointment, document the patient encounter using either manual entry or EverHealth Scribe, and sign and lock the note.

Before You Begin

Overview

Every patient visit in DrChrono is documented through a clinical note tied to the appointment. The note is where the encounter is recorded — chief complaint, history, assessment, and plan — and it's the document that drives everything downstream. Once a provider signs and locks the note, it becomes part of the permanent patient record. While clinical staff can document within the note with the appropriate permissions, the provider is always responsible for final review and signature.

DrChrono supports two documentation paths: manual entry directly in the clinical note, and AI-assisted documentation using EverHealth Scribe.

A Faster Documentation Path: EverHealth Scribe

EverHealth Scribe is an AI-powered documentation tool that listens to your patient conversation and automatically generates a draft clinical note — so you walk out of the exam room with your documentation largely done rather than facing a long list of clinical notes to write at the end of the day.

Providers who use EverHealth Scribe are spending significantly less time on documentation, which means more time with patients, less after-hours charting, and a faster path from encounter to signed note. You still review and approve everything — Scribe handles the first draft, you make it yours.

Once your note is ready, the signing and locking steps below apply exactly the same way as manual documentation.

Documenting the Encounter

Clinical notes in DrChrono are template-driven — the fields available to you depend on the template your Practice Administrator has configured for your appointment type. The workflow below applies regardless of template. If you are using EverHealth Scribe, your draft note will be pre-populated — proceed to review and editing rather than manual entry.

Why Use DrChrono's Mobile EHR (iPad)?

If your practice uses iPads, documenting visits directly from the DrChrono Mobile EHR app is worth considering over the web version — especially for providers and clinical staff who move between exam rooms throughout the day.

The iPad keeps documentation at the point of care. Rather than stepping away to a workstation to open a note, you can pull up the patient's chart, document the encounter, and send prescriptions from the same device you carry into the room. For clinical staff taking vitals or intake information, the iPad eliminates the extra step of walking back to a desk to enter what was just collected.

A few specific advantages over the web version:

Mobility: The iPad travels with you. Notes can be started, updated, and reviewed from anywhere in the practice without being tied to a fixed workstation.

Speed at the point of care: Entering information immediately after observing it is faster and more accurate than recalling it later at a desk. The iPad keeps the documentation moment close to the clinical moment and is made especially easy through exclusive features like inline workflow and free draw fields.

EverHealth Scribe on mobile: If your practice uses EverHealth Scribe, it works directly within the iPad app — meaning AI-assisted documentation is available in the exam room, not just at a desktop. See: Using EverHealth Scribe with the Mobile App

Integrated workflows: Prescriptions, lab orders, and billing codes can all be entered from the iPad without switching devices or apps mid-encounter.

Placing Orders

Orders placed during an encounter are initiated directly from within the clinical note, keeping everything tied to the visit record without switching between screens. DrChrono supports two primary order types from the clinical note: prescriptions and lab orders.

Prescriptions
Prescriptions can be sent electronically to the patient's pharmacy directly from the clinical note via DrChrono's eRx integration. For controlled substances, EPCS authentication is required at the time of sending. See: [E-Prescribing → link]

Lab Orders
DrChrono has interfaces with LabCorp and Quest as well as Health Gorilla, which connects your practice to a broad network of labs. Orders can be initiated from within the clinical note and transmitted electronically — no separate system login required. Results return to the patient's Labs tab in DrChrono when available.

LabCorp and Quest process can be found here.
Health Gorilla process can be found here.

What Happens Next?

Once the note is signed and locked, the visit moves into the billing workflow where the codes captured in the note will populate in the Live Claims Feed for billing review and submission.

Troubleshooting

Q: I can't find the clinical note for a patient's appointment — where is it?
A: Confirm the appointment exists on the calendar and that your account has the Access Clinical Notes permission enabled. If the appointment exists but the note isn't accessible, contact your Practice Administrator to verify your permissions.

Q: The note saved but the billing status didn't update after I locked it — what do I do?
A: Confirm the note is fully locked and not just signed. A signed but unlocked note will not trigger the billing workflow. If the note is locked and the billing status still hasn't updated, refresh the page and check the Live Claims Feed. If it's still not appearing, contact support through Amelia.

Q: I made an error in a locked note — can I edit it?
A: Locked notes cannot be edited directly. You will need to either unlock the note or add an amendment to correct the record. Contact your Practice Administrator or Medical Director if you are unsure of your practice's amendment policy.

Helpful Resources

Clinical Notes

• AI-Powered Scribe Overview & Getting Started
• How Does the Clinical Note Work?
• Signing and Locking a Clinical Note
• How Do I Add an Addendum to a Locked Note?
• Lock a Note and Automatically Change the Billing Status
• Sending a Referral
• Using RCM Tasks to View and Sign Charts
• How to Create Favorite Lab Panels
• Telehealth Visits FAQ

Billing Picklist

• Creating a Billing Picklist
• Using a Billing Picklist

PROVIDERS & CLINICAL STAFF | SENDING ELECTRONIC PRESCRIPTIONS |   15-MINUTE READ

After reading this article, you will be able to send electronic prescriptions, manage refill requests and use the ePrior Authorizations feature powered by CoverMyMeds.

Before You Begin

Overview

DrChrono's e-prescribing module allows providers to send prescriptions electronically to a patient's pharmacy directly from the patient chart or their clinical note — no paper, no fax, no separate system. Clinical staff can draft prescriptions for provider review, making the workflow more efficient without compromising prescriber accountability. For controlled substances, DrChrono supports EPCS with multi-factor authentication through ID.me. The platform also integrates with Bamboo Health to give prescribers real-time access to a patient's prescription drug monitoring data (PDMP) before a controlled substance is prescribed.

Sending a New Prescription

Prescriptions are sent from the patient chart. Clinical staff may draft the prescription; only the provider can sign and send it.

Electronically Prescribing Controlled Substances (EPCS)

For a full walkthrough of EPCS prescribing, see: Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances

ePrior Authorizations using CoverMyMeds

Full walkthrough on ePA feature here.

Managing Refill Requests

For a full walkthrough of managing refill requests, see: eRx Refill Requests

What Happens Next?

Once a prescription is sent, the patient's active medication list updates automatically and the pharmacy receives the order electronically. For controlled substances, the EPCS transmission serves as the legal prescription — no paper copy is required unless the pharmacy specifically requests one.

Troubleshooting

Q: The pharmacy says they didn't receive the prescription — what do I do?
A: Confirm the correct pharmacy was selected before sending by checking the prescription in the patient's Medication List. If the pharmacy is confirmed correct, use the Re-send Selected Medication option to retransmit. If the issue persists, contact the pharmacy directly to confirm their electronic prescribing capability.

Q: My EPCS authentication isn't going through — what do I check?
A: Confirm your MFA device is set up correctly under Account → Provider Settings → eRx Info. If you need to add or change your authentication device, see: Adding or Changing a Device for MFA with ID.me

Q: The PDMP report isn't loading for my patient — what's missing?
A: The report requires five patient demographics to run: First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, Date of Birth, and Zip Code. Verify all five are entered in the patient chart under the Important and Demographics tabs before attempting to run the report again.

Q: I received an error saying a drug is not supported when prescribing from the mobile or iPad app — what do I do?
A: Update the DrChrono app to the latest version in the App Store. This error is typically caused by an outdated version of the app.

Helpful Resources

eRx Setup

• Setting Up eRx with ID.me
• Making Prescription Profiles / Favorite Prescriptions
• Working With Pharmacies
• eRx: What Do the Formulary Symbols Mean?
• How Do I Enter Days Supply in Prescriptions?
• Sending a Prescription with a Supervising Provider
• How Can I Print a Prescription?

EPCS

• Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS)
• EPCS: Do I Meet the Requirements?
• EPCS System Requirements
• EPCS Based on the DEA Schedule
• Electronically Prescribing Schedule III and IV Controlled Substances
• EPCS: Can I Send Multiple Schedule II Medications in a Prescription?
• Adding or Changing a Device for MFA with ID.me
• Prescribing Compound Medications

PDMP

• Setting Up Your Bamboo Health Integration
• Query of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)

Refills

• Refill Requests: What's New?
• Schedule III and IV Refill Maximums

PROVIDERS & CLINICAL STAFF | COMMUNICATING WITH PATIENTS VIA ONPATIENT |   15-MINUTE READ

Before You Begin

Overview

OnPatient's secure messaging lets your care team send and receive messages with patients directly through the portal — no phone tag, no unencrypted email. Messages are tied to the patient's chart and accessible from within DrChrono.

Using OnPatient Secure Messaging

Things to Keep in Mind

• OnPatient must be enabled for the patient before messaging is available. If the messaging option isn't visible in a patient's chart, check their OnPatient enrollment status. See OnPatient Basics.
• Messages received from patients will arrive in a dedicated section of the Message Center called "Patient Message."
• Messages sent through OnPatient are secure and HIPAA-compliant — use this channel instead of standard email or text for any patient communication involving protected health information.
• Patients receive an email notification when a new message is waiting, but the message content itself is only visible after they log in to OnPatient.