The patient chart

Find a patient and open their chart

Every chart starts at the global Patient Search. Click the Chart button (document icon) in the top toolbar, or press F6 from anywhere in the app, and the same search modal opens. Staff accounts see the Chart button only when their profile includes at least one patient-chart permission; physicians always have it.

1. Start with your recent patients. Before you type anything, the modal lists Recent Patients — the charts you opened most recently (or No recent patients on a fresh account). Sort the list with the Name, Date of Birth, and Last Accessed buttons; each row shows the patient’s MRN and DOB plus when you last opened the chart (for example “2 days ago”).
2. Or just type. Results update automatically as you type — there is no separate search button. The box accepts four lookup styles, as its placeholder says: Search by name, email, MRN (5-10 digit #), or DOB (YYYY-MM-DD)…. If nothing matches, the empty-result message tells you which style it detected.
3. Click the patient. The chart opens as its own tab in the workspace tab bar, so several charts can stay open side by side. Opening the same patient again reuses the existing tab rather than creating a duplicate.

Read the chart: layout, tabs & in-chart search

The chart screen has two zones: the patient header strip across the top (covered in the next section) and the Chart Review card below it, with a row of section tabs. Encounters is the default tab.

Immunizations appears only if your practice has enabled it as an additional feature (see Practice setup). For staff accounts, each tab shows only when the staff profile holds the matching permission — a profile with no chart permissions sees No chart sections available instead.

1. Jump between tabs. Cmd+1–Cmd+9 (Ctrl+1–Ctrl+9 on Windows) go straight to a tab — hover any tab to see its shortcut hint. Tabs load on first visit and then stay loaded, so switching back is instant. If the row overflows the window, chevron buttons appear to scroll it.
2. Search inside the chart. The magnifier at the right end of the tab row expands a Search… box (Ctrl+F focuses it). It full-text searches the patient’s Notes, Labs, and Imaging, groups the matches under headings, and clicking a result jumps to that item in the matching tab.
3. Pick a layout. The small monitor icon on the header toggles between the default horizontal bar (Switch to vertical layout) and a vertical left sidebar (Switch to horizontal layout) that lists Allergies, Problems, Immunizations (when enabled), and Preferred Pharmacies as expandable sections.
4. Order without opening a note. Physicians can press F7 or Ctrl+O from the chart to open Create Orders directly — see Standalone orders.

The patient header: identity, vitals & safety at a glance

The header strip stays in view no matter which tab you’re on. It packs the patient’s identity, latest vitals, allergies, problems, and preferred pharmacies into one bar — each block is clickable and drops down its detail.

Maintain the problem list & allergies

Problems and allergies are managed straight from their header dropdowns, and both follow the same add–edit–delete pattern. Keeping them current matters beyond the chart: the allergy list feeds the medication safety checks (see Safety checks).

1. Open the dialog. Click Problems → Add New, or press Ctrl+Shift+P anywhere in the chart; for allergies it’s Allergies → Add New or Ctrl+Shift+A. To edit, just click an existing entry in the dropdown.
2. Name the entry. A problem requires an ICD-10 Code: type into Search ICD-10 codes… and press Enter (or the magnifier) to open the code search; the official description appears beneath the field once chosen. An allergy requires an Allergen Name via Search allergens… — pick a database match or keep your free-text entry.
3. Fill in the detail and save. Save with Add Problem or Add Allergy. When editing, the button reads Update Problem / Update Allergy and the code or allergen is read-only — only the details below can change.
4. Delete with confirmation. Open the entry and click Delete; an inline Confirm delete? prompt with Yes / No appears before anything is removed.

View & edit demographics, insurance, and patient billing

Click the patient’s name or avatar in the header to open the demographics modal. Its header repeats the identity with chips for MRN, DOB, Age, and Sex, and it always opens on the first of its three tabs: Demographics, Insurance, and Billing.

1. Review the demographics cards. The read view is organized into Identity, Contact, Address, Emergency Contact, Parent / Guardian, and Guarantor cards; anything missing shows a hint like No address on file.
2. Edit what’s changed. Click Edit to switch to the Edit demographics form — names, date of birth, sex (Unset/Female/Male/Other), gender identity, marital status, preferred language, email and phones, address, and emergency contact. Finish with Save (it briefly shows Saving…) or Cancel.
3. Manage coverage on the Insurance tab. Add policies with + Primary and + Secondary. Each policy card shows its coverage status (Active coverage / Inactive coverage), payer details, and three actions: View benefits detail expands the eligibility benefits table, Run eligibility performs a free electronic check (Eligibility check complete. on success), and Run COB check looks for other coverage. Once eligibility data exists, a coverage-estimate summary — deductible remaining and per-visit-type estimates — appears at the top of the tab. Until a policy is added you’ll see No insurance policies on file.
4. Set how this patient is billed. The Bypass insurance (treat as cash pay) checkbox makes visit collection use the cash fee schedule instead of the eligibility copay, and the Billing type selector defaults to Automatic with a Custom type creator. The Billing tab itself is the per-patient billing surface — preferences and charges — documented in Patient billing.

Review past encounters, notes & upcoming visits

The Encounters tab — the chart’s default — is the visit history: every encounter in a sortable table, a side-by-side preview, and an optional panel of upcoming visits. The Notes tab is the note-centric view of the same record.

1. Scan the history. Columns are Date, Type, Provider, Specialty, and Chief Complaint; unsigned encounters carry a status badge next to the type, and dates render in your organization’s time zone. Long histories load 50 encounters at a time as you scroll, with a Showing N encounters banner and All encounters loaded marking the end of the record.
2. Sort and filter. The Sort chips (Date / Type / Specialty) toggle ascending and descending; the Filter chips narrow to All, By Me, or My Specialty. The last two are grayed out for staff accounts without a physician record — that’s expected.
3. Preview a visit. Single-click a row to open a split-pane preview — note content, orders, and charges — and collapse it with Hide Preview / Show Preview. Double-click to open the same preview as a near-full-screen dialog instead.
4. Watch upcoming visits. The Future Visits toggle (on by default) shows an Upcoming visits panel above the history with a count: each booked appointment’s date and time, visit type with an Upcoming badge, provider, location or Virtual Visit, and any visit notes. Cancelled, completed, no-show, held, and already-started visits are filtered out automatically; with nothing booked it reads No upcoming visits scheduled.
5. Read notes on the Notes tab. The sortable note list opens any note in a preview pane. Signed notes are never edited in place — add an addendum instead. When an addendum changes the plan, Hero EMR reconciles the matching unscheduled follow-up request automatically (see Sign & close the visit).

Vitals: read the strip, record during a visit, review the trend

The header’s vitals readout shows the most recent Wt: and Ht: with a recency suffix — “(today)”, “(yesterday)”, “(3d ago)”, or a date — or No vitals recorded when there’s nothing yet. Clicking it opens a small three-button action menu for everything vitals-related.

1. Open the action menu. Click the Wt: / Ht: readout. The three actions are Open height and weight trends, Pull latest vitals into note, and Add encounter vitals.
2. Review the trend. Open height and weight trends opens the Height and weight trends modal, with Weight and Height tabs charting every recorded value point by point.
3. Record vitals during a visit. Add encounter vitals opens a dialog subtitled Save measurements for the patient on this encounter. It records Measured at (required), Weight and Height with unit selectors, Blood pressure (Systolic/Diastolic), Heart rate, Temperature with its unit, Oxygen saturation, Respiratory rate, Pain (0-10), and Notes. Finish with Save vitals.
4. Stamp vitals into the note. Pull latest vitals into note inserts the most recent measurements into the encounter note you have open, so the documented vitals match the chart.