Here's the whole journey a client takes through CF5 Care, from the first appointment to a completed visit. Understanding this flow is the key to everything else in the module.
This is the new CF5 model. Some refinements (form field mapping to cases/visits, chart types) are still rolling out.
The moment an appointment is booked, by your staff or by the client through online booking, CoolFocus creates the client (person) record and assigns a client number. You have a real, single record from the very first contact.
This is what ends the old "ghost client" problem: no more separate scraps of info across an appointment and an intake form, and no messy history when someone reschedules several times. Returning clients are matched by name, email, and date of birth so you don't get duplicates. (And because CF5 bills by unlimited records, no-shows and cancellations don't cost you anything.)
From the appointment you can send forms and documents (booking questions, intake-style forms, consents) to the client. When they complete a form, CoolFocus saves an immutable form response attached to the appointment, a faithful record of exactly what the client reported, which staff can't overwrite.
At this stage the information is in a holding area on the appointment. Client-level details update the client record; anything that belongs on the case or visit waits for the next step.
You don't have to wait for the visit to see what a client submitted: once a sent form is marked Completed, its answers are available directly on the appointment's list of sent forms, so staff can review what the client reported before the client even arrives.
When the client arrives and you Start Visit, CoolFocus:
Creates the case (if the client doesn't already have one),
Creates the visit, and
Applies the held form data to the right place: client fields to the client, case fields to the case, visit fields to the visit.
From there you document the visit normally (tests, ultrasound, notes, and so on). You can't start a visit for a future date, Start Visit is for when the client is actually there.
Everything the client submitted shows up on the visit, no separate intake screen to hunt through. Open the visit and you'll see the forms, responses, and the client's history in one place. Nurses and staff work entirely here in CF5.
Most of this happens from the Visit Board and the appointment view in Scheduler. If a client hasn't finished their forms when you go to start their visit, CF5 can prompt you to send the remaining forms by text or QR code on the spot.
