Recording the death of a patient

In Communicare, record when a patient dies. Deceased patients are excluded from many reports but will continue to be included if not marked as deceased.

All saved changes to a patient's deceased date (and therefore their deceased status) are logged to the database for auditing purposes.

To record the death of a patient:
  1. Select Patient > Death.
  2. In the Patient Search window, search for and select the patient.
  3. In the patient's record, from the Date of death calendar, select when the patient died. If you don't know the exact date, select an approximate date and set Date uncertain.
  4. From the Cause of death list, select a category. The list is based on the NT Coroner's report of common reasons for death (2017).
  5. In the Comment field, add any other pertinent information.
  6. From the Death Notification Source list, select how you were notified of the death of the patient.
  7. From the Death Verified list, after verifying that the patient is dead, select Yes.
  8. In the Contributing factors section, add any contributing factors if required:
    1. In the first row, from the list select a contributing factor, for example, Smoking.
    2. Click Add iconAdd. A new row is added at the top of the section. From the list select a contributing factor, for example, Age.
    3. Repeat step b until all factors are recorded.
  9. Click Save.

The patient is recorded as deceased and does not appear in patient searches unless you set Include deceased.

Correcting Mistakes

If a patient is incorrectly marked as deceased, you can reverse the record.

To reinstate a patient:
  1. Select Patient > Death.
  2. In the Patient Search, set Include deceased, enter the full patient's name and select the patient.
  3. In the patient's record, delete any contributing factors, comments, death notification source, verification, or cause of death.
  4. Delete the date of death.
  5. Click Save.

The patient is now no longer marked as deceased.