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Overview

Patient management in OpenEyes provides comprehensive tools for maintaining accurate patient demographics, medical history, and identifiers. The system supports both manual patient entry and integration with Patient Administration Systems (PAS).
OpenEyes is designed specifically for ophthalmology, with specialized fields for eye-related conditions, visual acuity, and ophthalmic diagnoses.

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Searching for Patients

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Search Methods

OpenEyes supports multiple search approaches:
Search by local hospital identifier:
12345678
  • Most accurate method
  • Unique within institution
  • Preferred for PAS integration

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Search Results

When searching:
  • Single match: Automatically navigate to patient summary
  • Multiple matches: Display results page for selection
  • No match: Option to search external PAS or add new patient
  • Merged patients: Automatic redirect to primary record with notification
If a patient identifier was merged into another record, you’ll see a message indicating which record is now primary.

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Adding New Patients

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Required Information

To create a patient record, you must provide:
1

Demographics

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Date of birth (format: DD-MM-YYYY)
  • Gender
2

Identifiers

At least one identifier:
  • Hospital number (auto-generated or manual)
  • NHS number (if available)
  • Local institutional identifiers
3

Contact Details

Optional but recommended:
  • Primary phone number
  • Email address
  • Postal address
4

GP Assignment

Associate with:
  • General Practitioner
  • GP Practice
  • Commissioning body

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Patient Creation Workflow

  1. Navigate to Add Patient from the dashboard
  2. Complete required demographic fields
  3. Add patient identifiers
  4. Enter contact information
  5. Assign GP and practice if known
  6. Select ethnic group (for demographic reporting)
  7. Click Save to create the record
The system performs duplicate checking based on identifiers and demographics to prevent duplicate records.

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Patient Demographics

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Core Fields

The patient model includes:
FieldTypeRequiredNotes
TitleStringNoMr, Mrs, Ms, Dr, etc.
First NameStringYesLegal first name
Last NameStringYesLegal surname
Date of BirthDateYesDD-MM-YYYY format
GenderSelectYesMale, Female, Other
Ethnic GroupSelectNoFor demographic reporting
Date of DeathDateNoIf deceased
Primary PhoneStringNoContact number

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Deceased Patients

For deceased patients:
  1. Check the Deceased checkbox
  2. Enter Date of Death (required when deceased)
  3. System validates death date is:
    • After date of birth
    • Not in the future
    • After 01-01-1900
Date of death must be provided when marking a patient as deceased. The field becomes mandatory.

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Patient Identifiers

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Identifier Types

OpenEyes supports multiple identifier types:

Global Identifiers

  • NHS Number
  • National patient identifiers
  • Unique across entire system

Local Identifiers

  • Hospital numbers
  • Clinic-specific IDs
  • Site-specific references

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Identifier Management

Adding Identifiers:
  • Navigate to patient record
  • Click Edit Demographics
  • Add identifier with type and value
  • Save changes
Identifier Status: Identifiers can have status indicators:
  • ✓ Verified
  • ⚠ Unverified
  • ⚠ Temporary
  • ❌ Invalid
Identifier status helps track data quality and PAS synchronization state.

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Medical History Management

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Allergies

Manage patient allergies:
  1. Navigate to patient summary
  2. Find Allergies section
  3. Click Add Allergy
  4. Select allergy from dropdown or enter “Other”
  5. Add reaction details and comments
  6. Save entry
No Known Allergies:
  • Check “No Known Allergies” to record absence
  • Date-stamped for audit trail
  • Requires explicit confirmation
Allergy information displays prominently in the patient banner. Always verify allergies before prescribing.

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Clinical Risks

Record patient risks:
  • MRSA Status: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
  • Diabetes: Type 1 or Type 2
  • Anticoagulation: Warfarin, NOACs, etc.
  • Other Medical Risks: Custom entries

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Ophthalmic Diagnoses

Add other ophthalmic conditions:
  1. Click Add Diagnosis in patient summary
  2. Search for disorder (SNOMED-coded)
  3. Select affected eye: Right, Left, or Both
  4. Enter diagnosis date (can be fuzzy: year only, year-month, or full date)
  5. Save diagnosis
Ophthalmic diagnoses are separate from episode-specific diagnoses. These are conditions the patient has outside the current clinical episode.

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Systemic Diagnoses

Record non-ophthalmic conditions:
  • Hypertension
  • Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Other relevant medical history

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Previous Operations

Track surgical history:
  1. Navigate to Previous Operations section
  2. Click Add Operation
  3. Select operation type
  4. Enter date and laterality (eye side)
  5. Add any complications or notes
  6. Save entry

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Medications

Manage medication history:
  • Current Medications: Active prescriptions
  • Stopped Medications: Discontinued drugs
  • Systemic Medications: Non-ophthalmic drugs
  • Eye Medications: Topical eye treatments
Medication management integrates with the prescription module for complete drug history tracking.

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Social History

Record social factors:
  • Smoking status
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Occupation
  • Living situation
  • Driving status (important for DVLA reporting)

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Family History

Track hereditary conditions:
  • Glaucoma
  • Macular degeneration
  • Retinal detachment
  • Other eye conditions with genetic components

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Contact Management

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GP and Practice

Assign general practitioner:
  1. Search for GP by name
  2. Select from results
  3. System auto-populates associated practice
  4. Verify practice address is correct
GP and practice must be linked correctly for correspondence generation and referral tracking.

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Additional Contacts

Add other contacts:
  • Family Members: Next of kin, emergency contacts
  • Care Providers: Nursing homes, home care agencies
  • Other Healthcare: Specialists, therapists
  • Informal Carers: Family or friend caregivers

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Contact Assignment Process

  1. Navigate to patient Contacts section
  2. Click Add Contact
  3. Search for existing contact or create new
  4. Define relationship type
  5. Save assignment

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Patient Summary Page

The patient summary provides:

Demographics Panel

  • Name, DOB, age, gender
  • Patient identifiers
  • Contact information
  • Deceased status if applicable

Clinical Overview

  • Recent visual acuity
  • Active diagnoses
  • Current medications
  • Upcoming appointments

Alerts and Warnings

  • Allergies
  • Clinical risks
  • Special requirements
  • System flags

Recent Events

  • Last 3 clinical events
  • Recent correspondence
  • Last examination
  • Upcoming procedures

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Patient Banner

The persistent patient banner displays:
  • Patient name and age
  • Primary identifier (hospital/NHS number)
  • Allergy alerts (highlighted in red)
  • Risk warnings
  • Deceased indicator if applicable
The patient banner remains visible across all pages when viewing a patient record.

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Plans and Problems

Manage ongoing clinical plans:

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Adding Plans

  1. Navigate to patient summary
  2. Find Plans & Problems section
  3. Click Add Plan
  4. Enter plan description
  5. Plans auto-order by creation

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Managing Plans

  • Reorder: Drag and drop to prioritize
  • Deactivate: Mark completed plans as inactive
  • Edit: Update plan text
  • View History: See all plans including inactive
Plans and problems persist across episodes and provide continuity of care tracking.

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Patient Merging

When duplicate records exist:
  1. System administrator initiates merge
  2. Select primary (keeping) record
  3. Select secondary (merging) record
  4. Review and confirm merge
  5. All data consolidated to primary record
  6. Secondary record marked as merged
Patient merging is irreversible. Only administrators with appropriate permissions can perform merges.

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Merged Patient Handling

After merge:
  • Searches on old identifier redirect to primary record
  • Flash message indicates merge occurred
  • Historical audit trail maintained
  • All episodes and events transferred

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Patient Deletion

For patients who should not be in the system:
  1. Navigate to patient summary
  2. Click Delete Patient (trash icon)
  3. Confirm deletion warning
  4. Patient marked as deleted (soft delete)
Patient deletion is a serious action:
  • Requires OprnDeletePatient permission
  • Cannot be easily undone
  • Should only be used for data quality issues
  • Use patient merging instead for duplicates

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Best Practices

Verify Demographics

Always confirm patient identity using at least two identifiers before updating records

Update Contacts

Keep GP and contact information current for correspondence and emergency situations

Document Allergies

Explicitly record either known allergies or “No Known Allergies” for every patient

Use Standard Codes

Select from SNOMED-coded diagnoses rather than free text for better data quality

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Common Tasks

  1. Navigate to patient record
  2. Click Edit Demographics
  3. Update address fields
  4. Save changes
  5. Address history is maintained in audit log
  1. Open patient record
  2. Edit demographics section
  3. Update primary phone field
  4. Optionally add additional phone numbers as contacts
  5. Save changes
  1. Patient record → Edit Demographics
  2. Enter NHS number in identifier section
  3. System validates format
  4. Save changes
  5. Number available for future searches
  1. Edit patient demographics
  2. Check “Is Deceased” checkbox
  3. Enter date of death (required)
  4. Validate date is logical
  5. Save changes
  6. Red “DECEASED” indicator appears in banner

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Integration with PAS

For institutions with PAS integration:
  • Auto-Import: Patient records sync from PAS
  • Update Sync: Demographics updated automatically
  • Identifier Validation: NHS numbers validated against national spine
  • Duplicate Prevention: System checks for existing records before import
PAS integration settings are configured by system administrators. Contact your IT team for specific integration capabilities.

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Next Steps

Clinical Workflow

Learn how to create episodes and clinical events

Worklists

Add patients to worklists and manage clinics

Examination Module

Record clinical examinations and visual acuity

Prescriptions

Prescribe medications for your patients

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