Patient profile: demographics and contacts
Manage patient demographics, contacts, and insurance.
- Updated
- Updated
- Reading time
- 5 min read
- Tags
- profiledemographicsinsurancecontacts
The Profile section holds patient demographics, contact information, emergency contacts, and insurance. This article covers viewing and editing profile data, managing insurance, and handling special situations.
Demographics
Profile shows name, preferred name, date of birth, age, gender, pronouns, language, race, ethnicity, and marital status. Click Edit to update. Changes are audited. For name changes (marriage, divorce, legal), use the "Previous names" field to preserve history. The MRN is system-generated and cannot be changed.
Contact information
Multiple phone numbers (mobile, home, work) and email addresses. Mark one as primary for appointment reminders. The patient portal uses the primary email for login. Addresses: home, mailing (if different), and temporary (for snowbirds). Addresses are used for billing and for determining which location is closest.
Emergency contacts
Add emergency contacts with name, relationship, and phone. You can add multiple contacts and rank them by priority. Emergency contacts are visible in the header during appointments and in the patient's portal. They do NOT have portal access unless you invite them as a proxy (for minors or caregivers).
Insurance
Primary, secondary, and tertiary insurance. For each: payer name, member ID, group number, plan name, effective dates, copay, and deductible. Upload images of insurance cards (front and back). Insurance is used for eligibility checks and claim submission. Mark "Self-pay" if uninsured. Update insurance at each visit — patients often forget to mention changes.
Pharmacy
Preferred pharmacy for e-prescriptions. Search by name or location. You can add multiple pharmacies (e.g., local and mail order). The pharmacy is used as default when prescribing but can be overridden per prescription.
Proxy access
For minors, parents/guardians can have proxy access to the portal. For adults, patients can grant proxy access to caregivers. Proxies are managed under Profile → Proxy access. Proxies see a limited view and cannot message providers directly (messages go to the patient's thread).
Marking deceased
If a patient dies, go to Profile → Edit → Status → Deceased. Enter date of death. This prevents appointment reminders and outreach campaigns. Deceased patients are excluded from most reports but remain in the system for legal retention. Only admins can mark deceased.
Frequently asked questions
What if a patient has two insurance plans?
Can patients update their own profile?
Keep reading
Add a new patient
Register a patient in your practice, send a portal invite, and capture the minimum data required for scheduling and billing.
Patients: finding and filtering
Browse your patient panel, search, and use filters to find who you need.
Eligibility: checking insurance
Verify patient insurance eligibility in real-time.