Patients

A complete guide to the Patients module — creating and managing patient profiles, medical history, emergency contacts, full profile view, search, and CSV export.

Written By Dev010

Last updated 19 days ago

The Patients module is the foundation of CareNova. Every clinical workflow — appointments, prescriptions, medical records, invoices — connects back to a patient record. This guide covers everything from creating a patient profile to exporting the full patient list.

Accessing the Module

Sidebar → Patients

Direct URL:

https://yourdomain.com/dashboard/patients

Who can access:

Action	Admin	Doctor	Receptionist	Nurse
View patients	✅	✅	✅	✅
Create patient	✅	✅	✅	❌
Edit patient	✅	✅	✅	✅
Delete patient	✅	❌	❌	❌
Export patients	✅	❌	❌	❌

Patient List

The main patients page shows a paginated, searchable list of all registered patients.

Each row in the list displays:

Full name
Date of birth and age
Phone number
Gender
Blood group
Primary doctor
Department
Registration date
Action buttons (view, edit, delete)

Search and Filters

The search bar filters patients in real time across the following fields:

Full name
Phone number
Email address

Results update as you type. The search is handled server-side — no client-side filtering.

Pagination

The patient list is paginated. Large clinics with thousands of patients will see records split across pages. Navigation controls appear at the bottom of the list.

Bulk Actions

Select multiple patients using the checkboxes on the left of each row to perform bulk actions:

Bulk delete — permanently removes selected patient records

Bulk delete shows a confirmation dialog before executing. Deleting a patient also cascades and removes all linked records — appointments, medical records, prescriptions, invoices, and payments. This action cannot be undone.

Creating a Patient

Click the Add Patient button in the top right of the patients list.

Direct URL:

https://yourdomain.com/dashboard/patients/new

Required Fields

Field	Notes
Full Name	Patient's complete legal name
Date of Birth	Used to calculate age automatically
Phone	Primary contact number

Optional Fields

Demographics:

Field	Notes
Email	For appointment reminders and communication
Gender	Free text or select
Blood Group	A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, O-
Height	Stored as text (e.g. 175cm or 5'9")
Weight	Stored as text (e.g. 70kg or 154lbs)
Address	Full postal address

Medical Background:

Field	Notes
Medical History	Free text — existing conditions, surgeries, chronic illnesses
Allergies	Free text — medications, foods, environmental

Assignment:

Field	Notes
Primary Doctor	Assign a doctor from the users list
Department	Link patient to a clinic department

Emergency Contact:

Field	Notes
Contact Name	Name of emergency contact person
Contact Phone	Emergency phone number
Relationship	Relationship to patient (e.g. spouse, parent)

Saving the Patient

Click Create Patient to save. The patient is immediately added to the list and assigned a unique UUID. You are redirected to the patient detail page after creation.

Patient Detail Page

Each patient has a dedicated detail page accessible by clicking their name in the list.

Direct URL:

https://yourdomain.com/dashboard/patients/[id]

The detail page shows a complete overview of the patient including:

Full demographics and contact information
Medical history and allergies
Emergency contact details
Primary doctor and department assignment
Summary counts — total appointments, prescriptions, invoices

From this page you can:

Open the Full Profile Sheet
Navigate to Edit Patient
Access linked records directly

Full Profile Sheet

Clicking View Full Profile on a patient opens a slide-in sheet showing a 360° view of the patient's history across all modules — without leaving the current page.

The Full Profile Sheet contains tabbed sections:

Tab	What It Shows
Overview	Demographics, medical history, allergies, emergency contact
Appointments	All appointments — date, doctor, service, status
Prescriptions	All prescriptions — medication, dosage, doctor, date
Medical Records	Linked visit records
Invoices	All invoices — number, amount, status, date
Test Reports	Lab reports linked to this patient

This sheet is accessible from the patient list row actions and the patient detail page. It is available to all roles that have patients.view permission.

Editing a Patient

Click the Edit button on the patient list row or the patient detail page.

Direct URL:

https://yourdomain.com/dashboard/patients/[id]/edit

All fields from the creation form are editable. Changes are saved immediately on form submission and the patient list is refreshed automatically.

Deleting a Patient

Patients can be deleted from:

The action menu on the patient list row
The patient detail page (Admin only)

A confirmation dialog appears before deletion.

⚠️ Deleting a patient is permanent and cascades to all linked records:
Appointments
Medical records, vitals, clinical notes, diagnoses, and attachments
Prescriptions
Invoices and invoice items
Payments
Test reports
Odontograms
Only Admin accounts can delete patients. This action cannot be undone.

CSV Export

The full patient list can be exported as a CSV file for use in spreadsheets or external systems.

Click the Export button on the patients list page. The export runs server-side and downloads immediately.

The exported CSV includes:

Full name
Date of birth
Phone
Email
Gender
Blood group
Address
Medical history
Allergies
Emergency contact details
Primary doctor name
Department name
Registration date

CSV export requires the patients.export permission. By default this is granted to Admin only. Adjust in Dashboard → Permissions if needed.

Patient Database Fields

For developers and admins, here is the complete patients table schema:

Column	Type	Description
`id`	uuid	Unique patient identifier
`full_name`	text	Full legal name
`date_of_birth`	date	Date of birth
`phone`	text	Primary phone number
`email`	text	Email address
`gender`	text	Gender
`blood_group`	text	Blood type
`height`	text	Height
`weight`	text	Weight
`address`	text	Postal address
`medical_history`	text	Pre-existing conditions
`allergies`	text	Known allergies
`emergency_contact_name`	text	Emergency contact name
`emergency_contact_phone`	text	Emergency contact phone
`emergency_contact_relation`	text	Relationship to patient
`primary_doctor_id`	uuid	FK → users
`department_id`	uuid	FK → departments
`created_at`	timestamptz	Registration timestamp
`updated_at`	timestamptz	Last updated timestamp

Indexes are set on phone and full_name for fast search performance.

Workflow Examples

Register a walk-in patient and book their first appointment:

Sidebar → Patients → Add Patient
Fill in name, date of birth, phone
Assign primary doctor and department
Click Create Patient
From the patient detail page, click Book Appointment
Select service, doctor, date and time

Look up a returning patient quickly:

Sidebar → Patients
Type their name or phone in the search bar
Click their row to open the Full Profile Sheet
Review their appointment and prescription history

Check a patient's outstanding invoices:

Open patient from the list
Click View Full Profile
Navigate to the Invoices tab
Review unpaid invoice amounts

Troubleshooting

Patient does not appear in search after creation:

Hard refresh the browser
Confirm the patient was saved — check Supabase → Table Editor → patients
Search checks name and phone — try searching by phone number if name search returns nothing

Cannot create patients (button missing):

Confirm your role has patients.create permission in Dashboard → Permissions
Nurses do not have create permission by default

Delete button not visible:

Patient deletion is restricted to Admin role only
Doctor, Receptionist, and Nurse accounts do not see the delete option

CSV export not downloading:

Confirm your account has patients.export permission — Admin only by default
Check browser popup/download blocker settings
Try a different browser if the download does not start

Next Step

Continue to the Appointments module guide to learn how to schedule, manage, and track patient appointments in CareNova.