Patient Census
Patient Census is the working list clinicians and care teams use to organize and complete daily patient rounds at skilled nursing and post-acute care facilities. A census brings together the patients scheduled for a round and shows each patient's visit status, documentation progress, and billing state — all on one screen. From the census, open notes, charts, wound records, and charges without navigating away from your round.
About Patient Census
Physicians, care team members, and support staff at skilled nursing and post-acute care facilities use Patient Census as their primary daily workspace.
Physicians, NPs, and PAs
The census is the central tool for providers who round patients at skilled nursing and post-acute care facilities. It replaces paper rounding lists with a shared, real-time view of visit status, documentation, and billing — and lets you open notes, charts, and charges from a single row without navigating away.
Medical assistants and support staff
Support staff can build and manage censuses, add or import patients, update visit statuses, and leave team comments depending on their role and facility configuration. Changes appear immediately for all team members with access.
Care teams
Team censuses appear in every team member's census list with a team badge. Any team member who is a facility member can mark patients Seen, create notes, or add comments — making the census a shared coordination tool for multi-provider rounds.
View screenshot
Team censuses appear in every team member's census list with a team badge.
A complete round follows these steps. Click any step for detailed instructions.
1. Create or open a census
Start a new round or open one created earlier. Use Quick Create to start today's census in one click, or copy patients from a previous round to save time. → Create and Manage a Census
2. Add your patients
Add patients from DocNow by name or MRN, import directly from a connected EHR, or copy patients from another census. → Add, Import, Copy, or Remove Patients
3. Round and record visit status
Open the census and work through each patient. Mark each one Seen or Not Seen as you go. Switch between table, card, or calendar views to match your rounding style. → Complete Daily Rounds and Update Visit Status
4. Create notes and capture charges
From each patient row, open the note template picker, patient chart, wound module, or billing without leaving the census. → Create Notes, Open Charts, Document Wounds, and Capture Charges
5. Review missing work
Use the Documentation Status and Visit Status filters to find patients with outstanding notes, charges, or unrecorded visits. → Filter, Sort, Customize, Print, and Export a Census
6. Export or hand off
Download the roster as a PDF, export signed notes for a covering provider, or print the current view. → Export and print
From a single view, manage every aspect of your daily round without switching applications.
Search, sort, and filter patients
Narrow the patient roster by visit status, documentation state, care type, date range, or name. Filters remain applied when you open a patient chart or refresh the page.
View screenshot
The census list organizes rounds into Today, Upcoming, and Historical sections.
Mark patients Seen or Not Seen
Record a visit outcome for each patient as you move through your round. Log a reason and note when a patient cannot be visited. Both status and reason are editable at any time.
Create notes
Open the note template picker from any patient row and start documentation without leaving the census.
Open patient charts
View the full patient record from any row. Closing the chart returns you directly to the census — your place in the round is preserved.
Access wound documentation
For patients with active wound assessments, open wound management directly from the patient row without navigating through the chart.
Capture charges
Open charge capture for any patient's current facility visit directly from the census row.
Add comments and notify teammates
Leave patient-specific context for colleagues and @mention a teammate to send a direct notification with a link to that patient.
Perform bulk actions
Select several patients and mark them all Seen, Not Seen, or copy them to another census in one action.
Customize, print, and export
Choose which columns appear, set sort order and row action, and download the roster as a PDF or export signed notes for handoff.
Jump directly to the exact answer:
How do I create today's census?
How do I schedule a census for a future date?
How do I create a team census?
How do I copy patients from a previous round?
How do I delete a census?
How do I add or import patients?
How do I copy patients to another census?
How do I remove a patient from the census?
How do I mark a patient as Seen?
How do I mark a patient as Not Seen and record a reason?
How do I update several patients at once?
How do I create a note from the census?
How do I review missing notes or charges?
How do I print or export the census?
Why can't I see an action or button?
Why can't I delete the census?
Why is my census incomplete?
Available actions and layout in Patient Census can differ based on your account and facility configuration.
User role
Your role determines which action buttons appear. Providers with documentation access see the note button; users without that permission do not. Other buttons — wound, billing — may also vary by role.
Facility membership
Some actions, including note creation, require that your account is listed as a member of the specific facility where the census is located.
Facility settings
Not Seen reasons are configured by facility and may be optional or required depending on your organization's settings.
Enabled DocNow modules
The wound documentation button appears only when the wound module is active at your facility. The billing button requires charge capture to be enabled. Contact your DocNow administrator to confirm which modules are active.
EHR integration
Importing patients directly from the EHR is available only at facilities with an active EHR integration. Non-integrated facilities use manual patient search.
Personal settings
Column visibility, sort order, default row action, and PDF layout are saved per user. Your view may differ from a colleague's because each of you has configured your own preferences.
Desktop versus mobile
The full census feature set is available on desktop. Some layout options may differ on mobile devices.
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