Consultation Note Lock

MediRecords automatically locks a consult note once it's complete, to protect the accuracy and integrity of your clinical record. This article explains why notes lock, how the lock is actually applied (including the overnight scheduler), and what your options are if you need to correct or add to a note after it has locked.

Contents:

1. Why Consult Notes Lock
2. How a Consult Note Gets Locked
   • Re-Entering a Patient's Record the Same Day
   • The Overnight Scheduler and the 10PM Exception
3. What Are Your Options If a Consult Note Is Locked?

Why Consult Notes Lock

Once a consult note is locked, its original text can no longer be changed. This creates a reliable, tamper-evident record proving that a note wasn't altered after the fact, which is a standard safeguard across clinical record-keeping and aligns with guidance from bodies such as AHPRA and the RACGP.

How a Consult Note Gets Locked

A consult note is marked as finished in a few different ways: clicking Finish in Today's Notes, choosing to create a new consult record when you re-enter a patient's file the same day (see below), or another user opening the same patient's Clinical record while your note is still open.

Re-Entering a Patient's Record the Same Day

Only one consult note can be active for a patient at a time, based on the note's creation date. If you re-enter a patient's Clinical record on the same day a consult note has already been recorded for them, you'll see a confirmation prompt:

"A consultation for this patient has already been recorded on [Current Date]. Would you like to continue to add to those notes, or create a new Consult record?"

• Continue keeps your original note open and editable. Nothing is locked.
• Create new Consult locks the original note immediately and starts a new, separate consult note.

The Overnight Scheduler and the 10PM Exception

Every night, a scheduler locks any consult note that has been finished. It works from the note's creation date rather than the consult date, so a note written for a visit that happened on a different day isn't locked out prematurely.

If you open a patient's record after 10PM, the scheduler will not lock that note that night. Instead, it's picked up and locked the following night. This exists specifically to support 24-hour clinics, so a Provider working across midnight isn't cut off mid-note.

What Are Your Options If a Consult Note Is Locked?

Once a note is locked, you can't change its original text, but you have two options depending on the situation.

Add an Amendment

An amendment lets you add corrected or additional information without altering the original note. See Past Consultations for the full steps.

Mark It Confidential

If a note was created against the wrong patient, marking it confidential hides its contents while the situation is sorted out. See Past Consultations for the full steps.

Further Reading

• Past Consultations
• Consultations: FAQs