How to Change Patient Location

Introduction

CAREFUL provides two ways to update a patient's location: a quick location update for moving patients within your facility (e.g., changing rooms or wards), and a team transfer/referral for moving patients between clinical teams. This guide covers both methods.

Before You Start

• You must have access to the patient's profile
• For team transfers: You must have a team in common with the patient
• No special permissions required for simple location updates

Method 1: Update Patient Location (Simple)

Use this method when a patient moves to a different room, bed, or ward within your facility without changing teams.

1. Navigate to the patient's profile page
2. Locate the Current Location section in the patient details (it displays a pencil icon)
3. Click on the Current Location section to open the update dialog
4. The "Update patient location for [Patient Name]" dialog appears
5. Review the Current location field (this shows the patient's existing location and cannot be edited)
6. Enter the new location in the New location field (this field is automatically focused when the dialog opens)
7. Click the Submit button
8. The dialog closes and the patient's location is updated immediately

Method 2: Transfer or Refer Patient to Another Team

Use this method when transferring care to a different clinical team (e.g., referring to a specialist team or transferring to another ward's team).

1. Navigate to the patient's profile page
2. Click the actions menu (three-dot kebab menu)
3. Select Refer Patient to Team from the menu
4. The "Submit Referral request for patient [Patient Name]" dialog appears
5. In the From field, select the source team (if the patient is only on one team, this will be pre-filled and read-only)
6. In the To field, click the dropdown and select the target team from the list
7. In the Reason for Referral field, enter the clinical reason for the transfer (SBAR format is recommended: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation)
8. (Optional) Click Attachments to upload supporting documents or images
9. (Optional) Check the Transfer Immediately? checkbox if you want to accept the referral and discharge from the sending team immediately (Warning: This will automatically accept the referral and discharge the patient from the source team)
10. Click the Refer button
11. The referral is submitted and the dialog closes

Tips

• Quick updates: For simple room changes, use Method 1 (location update) - it's faster and doesn't involve team changes
• SBAR format: When providing a reason for referral, use SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) to ensure clear clinical communication
• Attachments: You can attach multiple files (lab results, images, notes) to support your referral request
• Immediate transfers: Only check "Transfer Immediately?" if you're certain the receiving team is ready to accept the patient - this bypasses the normal referral approval process
• Validation: The system will show inline error messages if required fields (like target team) are missing

Related Features

• How to Discharge a Patient from a Team
• How to Accept or Reject a Referral Request
• How to Take Responsibility for a Patient