Hospital
Log contact with the owner during a stay
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The owner contact log is a record of every time the hospital tried to reach a patient's owner during a stay, and what happened. Log failed attempts too ("no answer", "left voicemail"), so the next person on shift knows when the family was last actually spoken to.
Open the log
You can open it from the patient's record: while the patient is admitted, the record has an Owner contact log link. Front desk staff, who don't see the ward board, use this route. From the ward board:
- Find the patient's card and select Owner contact log.
The top card, Last successful contact (practice local), shows when someone last spoke with the family and about what, plus how many unsuccessful attempts there have been since. If nobody has been reached, it says Never reached.
Below it, Guardians on file lists the patient's owners with their phone number, preferred contact method and whether they're the primary contact. Select Open to go to an owner's record. This screen never calls or messages anyone; you make the call, then record it here.
Log a contact attempt
- Check Attempted at (practice local). It's set to now; change it if you're logging an earlier call. It can't be in the future.
- Choose Who initiated: Outbound — we called them or Inbound — they called us.
- Choose the Method, such as Phone, Text Message or In Person.
- Choose What happened, such as Spoke, No Answer or Left Voicemail.
- Write a Summary (optional) for the next person on shift.
- Select Log contact attempt.
You can also pick the Guardian this concerns (optional), enter the Person contacted (optional) and choose a Subject (optional), such as Status Update, Estimate Or Cost or Discharge Planning.
If the outcome is Spoke, you must fill in either Person contacted (optional) or Summary (optional). A failed attempt doesn't need either.
The person you spoke to is often not the owner of record, like a family member or the neighbour who brought the patient in. Put their name in Person contacted (optional). For an emergency intake with no owner on file, leave the guardian blank.
Logging needs owner-records access. Front desk staff, veterinarians and practice managers have it; others see the log read-only.