This page contains information related to entering the patient information within palCentre. To navigate quickly to a section within this page, please use the menu below:
If this is the first time you are entering data into palCentre, PCOC recommends you watch this video on entering patient information.
Accessing the patient screen
To enter patient information, you need to be on the patient screen in palCentre. It can be accessed by clicking on the 'Patient' option in the navigation menu bar.
When you open the screen, all current patients can be seen. Each patient is represented by a row in the patient screen.
Creating a new patient
To create a new patient, click on the purple 'Add a new patient' button in the top right hand corner of the screen.
The patient details form will appear:
The following information needs to be entered into this screen:
| Item to be entered | Additional information |
|---|---|
| Patient identifier | The unique identifier assigned to the patient by your service. This is a mandatory item - you cannot submit this screen without this information. |
| Date of birth | |
| Family name | This data is not submitted to PCOC but is required to generate the statistical linkage key. |
| Given name | This data is not submitted to PCOC but is required to generate the statistical linkage key. |
| Sex | |
| State | |
| Postcode | |
| Country of birth | If the country of birth is Australia, select this from the drop down menu. Otherwise select ‘other’ from the drop down menu and start typing the country of birth into the please specify field. Once you start typing a drop down list of counties will appear, select the appropriate country. If the country of birth is not stated, select this from the drop down menu. |
| Preferred language | If the preferred language is English, select this from the drop down menu. Otherwise select ‘other’ from the drop down menu and start typing the preferred language into the please specify field. Once you start typing a drop down list of languages will appear, select the appropriate language. If the preferred language is not stated, select this from the drop down menu. |
| Indigenous status | |
| Diagnosis | This is the principal life limiting illness for the patient |
Once all the information has been entered, click on submit.
Before the patient details are saved, palCentre will check to see if the patient name and/or patient identifer already exists. This functionality avoids duplicate patients being entered. If this warning does appear, please check that the patient identifer and patients name is correct. If they are correct, you will need to exit from this form and search for the patient.
If the country of birth, preferred language, Indigenous status or diagnosis is not entered into the form at time of creating a new patient, you will be prompted to enter this information in the episode form. This ensures that your patient information is as complete as possible.
To avoid having blank data items appear on your data quality report, select the 'Not stated' or 'Unknown' option in instances where this information has not been provided.
Once the form has been saved, the patient will now appear in the list on the patient screen.
Changing a patients details
To change any of the patient details, click on the 
to the right of the patients you wish to change.
This will open the patient details form to add or change any details. Click on submit once you have made the changes.
Searching for a patient
To search for a patient, type their patient identifer or their name in the seach bar in the top left hand side of the screen. Then click on 
.
The results of the search will appear below.
If the patient does not appear below, you may need to do an advanced search. Click on the 'Advanced search' link. This will open a pop-up window that will allow you to search for:
- Date of birth date range
- First name
- Last name
- Patient identifier
- If the patient is active, inactive or all patients
Click on 'Search' after entering your seach parameters. The results of this search will appear on the patient screen.
To remove any search parameters, click on the 'Reset' button in the Advanced Patient Search or the 'Clear Search' option on the patient screen. This will allow you to see you to see the full list of current patients that appeared when opening palCentre.
Archiving a patient
When a patient is no longer active in a service, they can be archived (inactive). This means they will no longer be seen on the patient screen.
All archived patients will still be included in the data that is extracted and reported to PCOC. Archiving patients will remove them from the patient list when opening the patient screen in palCentre.
To archive a patient, click on the the 
to the right of the patients you wish to archive.
The following warning will appear, click on 'Yes'.
The patient has now been archived.
Deleting a patient
Deleting a patient means they will not be included in the data that is extracted and reported to PCOC. Please ensure you only delete patients that are a mistake and should not be in your PCOC data.
To delete a patient, click on the the 
to the right of the patients you wish to delete.
The following warning will appear, click on 'Yes'.
The patient has now been deleted.