Client Setup (including 5.0 changes)
- Cathy Allison
- Former user (Deleted)
- Harini Pillalamarri (Unlicensed)
This page was created for VetView 1.3 on November 30, 2015. It has been updated to reflect changes in VetView 5.0 on Jan 24, 2024.
Client Type Setup Tab
The Client Type Setup screen is used to create and alter the names of various client types. These types allow you to group your clients together for reporting purposes, and also control which client type is assigned by default to new owners, new RDVMs, and new clinics.
Add New Client Type
Click on the Add button. A small window will appear on the right half of the screen.
Give the new client type a name and select the Role. The role field determines what additional flags will display on the form.
New Owner Role
New RDVM Role
New Clinic Role
New Contact Only Role
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Client Type | The name of the new client type you want to add. |
Role | The type of client on the Admission screen that you want this new client type to appear under. Clients can be associated with multiple types on Client Details, but the Admission screen will only display them based on this role. |
Active Flag | Only active client types are available on the Admission screen or the Client Details screen. Inactive client types will remain in the system for historical usage, but cannot be applied to new clients going forward. |
Owner Role: Primary Patient Owner | When this flag is set, this will be the Client Type that is pre-loaded in the drop down menu. Only one client type per role can be set as the default. If you want to force your admissions staff to choose from the drop down menu each time, you can leave this flag turned off, but the new clients cannot be saved without a client type selected. |
Merge Client Types (VetView 5.0 and later)
To preserve historical data without merging, you can set old client types as Inactive. This prevents future use, but does not change the values in the database.
For hospitals that have added a lot of client types over the years, you can Merge client types and clean up older ones that have been set as Inactive for a long period of time or which were created by mistake.
Select the old client type on the left side, and the new client type on the right side.
Any existing clients who still had the old client type will have their types changed to the new type in the database. The old client type will be removed from the system.
Client Types on the Admission Screen
Client types recorded on this screen will be available in the Client Type drop down when creating a new client. You will be required to associate new clients with a client type. If you do not see a client type in the drop down, ensure that the record is present in the Client Type Setup table and is active.
The Role determines which option these client types are available for on the admission screen. In the example below, the Owner, Business Farm, Client, Direct Charge, Faculty/Staff, and Student client types are all available on the Owner tab.
Primary Patient Owner/Clinic/RDVM means that new clients on the admission screen will automatically load this client type in the drop down menu. It can be changed at any time, but you should have your most common one set as the default. Only one client type for each of Client, RDVM, and Clinic can be set as default.
This hospital has made Owner the default client type for new clients, matching the Owner card on the admission screen.
The most common client type should also be set as the default to minimize extra steps on the admission screens. However, a user processing an admission can change this to any Client Type who is set as that particular role. For example if you have Business Farm as a different client type than Owner, it becomes available in the drop down menu for selection when creating a new client from scratch.
You can then change the radio button Client Type on this
Client Types on the Client Details Screen
Client types appear on their own window in the first tab of the Client Details screen. This window is on the right side. A client may have multiple client types turned on by setting flags. The majority of your clients will be only one type, but multiple types can be set for cases where an RDVM has brought in their own personal pet, or if you have an Owner who is in a special client type for insurance purposes.
Check the new types you want to apply, and then click on the Save button to apply the changes.
Credit Status Setup Tab
The Credit Statuses in your system are where you define the categories for your client's payment grouping. Certain functions can be automated or denied based on a credit status.
Add New Credit Status
Click on the New Credit Status button. A window will appear at the top of the screen for you to enter in the new credit status's information.
For example, if you handle clients in collections through a separate accounting system than your hospital, you can create a custom Collections credit status that forces any clients in this status to talk to your accounting department before a check-in is allowed.
The individual flags on your credit statuses are designed to force your clients in arears to work through the accounting department prior to making new appointments or opening new bills, depending on the severity of the status.
Each of these statuses will block the action on the respective screen, and show a custom warning to the user who is attempting to perform the action. From there, the user can inform the client about the issue, and include the instructions needed to remove the block.
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Credit Status Name | The name of the status as it will appear on the client details screen. Be short but clear in choosing these names. |
Code | A code that you can assign to credit statuses. Use this if your university accounting standards call for codes. |
Description | A place to enter a longer description of the credit status |
Active flag | Active credit statuses can be applied to new and existing clients. If a credit status is set to inactive, it will not be removed from any existing clients, but cannot be added to any new or existing clients going forward. For existing clients, it will need to be changed if their credit status is modified in the future. |
Default | The default credit status for all new clients. For the majority of institutions, this can be a "Good" status with no restrictions. |
Client Alert: | Automatically displays a client alert on the client records when a client is in this credit status. |
Allow this client to schedule appointments? | When this flag is turned on, clients with this credit status will be able to make new appointments/admissions. When this flag is turned off, the client with this credit status cannot make any new appointments or pre-admissions. |
Prevent Check-In | When this flag is turned on, a custom message will appear on the Admission screen for the user, and the admission will be blocked. |
Pop Up Warning At Check-in | When this flag is turned on, a custom message will appear on the Admission screen for the user when the check-in occurs. However, the action will not be blocked. |
Email at Check-in | Automatically sends an email to a specified user when a client with this credit status has checked in a patient. |
Allow clients to open new or related orders? | When this flag is turned on, a client can have an open bill with them as the bill party. When this flag is turned off, the client with this credit status cannot have any open bills with them as the bill party. |
Required Contact Information | When any of these flags are checked, the client must have this contact information to create a new order. For example, Bad Credit Status might be required to provide a phone number and address before a new order can be opened. |
Allow clients to Close Orders | When this flag is turned on, a client can have an order in their name closed. When this flag is turned off, the client with this credit status cannot have any orders closed in their name. If a client has been sent to Collections, for example, the VetView order may need to be closed because the balance is no longer being handled internal to the Hospital. |
Make New Payments | When this flag is turned on, a client with this credit status can apply payments to new and existing orders. When this flag is turned off, the client with this credit status cannot make new payments on the cashier screen and must instead make payments on their closed orders via an accountant or the third party collections agency. |
Make Check Payments | When this flag is turned on, a client with this credit status can make payments via a check. When this flag is turned off, the client with this credit status must pay in cash or credit card instead. |
Generate Accounts Receivable Statements? | When this flag is turned on, the client will be able to have statements generated within VetView. When this flag is turned off, it will prevent additional credit statements from being generated. This status should be used if the client’s balance has been written off or it has been sent to a third party collection agency. |
Send Account Receivable Statements? | When this flag is turned on, all account statements will be still be sent to clients with this credit status. When this flag is turned off, the client with this credit status will no longer receive general account statements. |
Add a Custom Pop up Warning
Custom account warnings can be set to appear in a pop up message if a user attempts to perform an action on the client with a credit status that does not allow it.
In the example below, the credit status is No Checks, and the warning is to the client upon admission that they can only pay with cash or credit.
Email At Admission
You can set a client credit status to email internal users or a special email account when a client has a patient admitted.
The email cannot be customized, but is simply a notice that a particular patient has been checked in. This can be useful for VIP clients, who are in good credit standing but for whom administration may want to offer a personal greeting.
Credit Status on the Client Details Screen
Client credit status is set on the Billing Subtab of the Client Details screen.
A client may only have one credit status set at a time.
Client Identifier Setup Tab (VetView 5.0)
New in 5.0, this section allows for custom client identifiers to be defined directly on the New Client page.
These Client Identifiers are primarily intended to be used for billing purposes. As such, we have included options to encrypt them in the database for additional security.
Identifier Setup in Labs still remains a discrete screen, but this screen is for adding business related location identifiers that need to be submitted for test reporting on accessions, such as Premises IDs or Flock numbers, as opposed to the client’s personal ID information.
IDs added on the Lab Identifier Setup screen are not encrypted and will be sent as clear text on the reports. Please see: Labs Identifier Setup
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Add button | Opens up the Add New Client Identifier window. |
Sort Up/Down | Controls the display order for Client Identifiers on the Client Setup screen. |
Client Identifier List | The current client identifiers in your system. These fields are optional and a new installation or upgrade of VetView will not show any the first time your screen loads. |
Add New Client Identifier
The window to add a new client identifier will appear on the right side of the Client Identifier List.
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Name | Opens up the Add New Client Identifier window. |
Description | Controls the display order for Client Identifiers on the Client Setup screen. |
Active flag | The current client identifiers in your system. These fields are optional and a new installation or upgrade of VetView will not show any. |
ID Value and Attachments are Encrypted in the database | This flag indicates that the numerical or text value and any scans of the ID should be encrypted. When this is checked, it limits the users who can see the Identifier to only those who have the elevated View Encrypted Data privilege. |
Check for duplicate ID values across clients | This flag indicates that the identifier should be unique, and will not allow more than one client to be saved with that identifier. |
Allow for attachments to this ID Type | This flag indicates that the ID will be scanned as additional proof. This may be useful for insurance cards, business cards, etc. If the encrypted flag is checked, this image will not be viewable by the user unless they have the elevated View Encrypted Data privilege. If it not checked, scanned attachments can be viewed by anyone with the first level Client privilege. |
Client Identifier Privileges
In order to manage the Client Identifiers, a user must have the appropriate privileges. These privileges can be added directly on a per user basis, or assigned to a role for users. As users can have more than one role, it may be easiest to create a Manage Client Identifiers role and give that role to every user who is allowed to touch them in your system, such as Accession Receiving or Billing.
Client is the top level privilege that grants view only access to the Client Details screen in VetView.
Modify Client is the previously existing role that changes the Client Details screen from View Only to an editable screen.
View/Edit Client Identifiers allows the user to enter in client identifiers on the Client Details screen, but not to be able to view the encrypted data if it was previously entered. This privilege may be useful for Accession Receiving and Client Coordinators.
View Encrypted Data is an elevated privilege to be able to decrypt the client identifier. This privilege should only be given to users who have a need to see the information, such as the billing department.