How to Add a Client in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

In ElderSuite, each client is created and maintained in the Client Information window. That is where the client’s name, admission dates, payment settings, schedule, contacts, and other record details are stored. Attendance, meals, nursing, and claims all use information saved on this record.

Open Client Center from the ElderSuite main menu. The standard route is Client List → Add Client. You can also use Add New Client under Related Activities.

Enter at least one name field so the record can be saved. Before anyone records attendance, confirm the client’s Payment Settings, because ElderSuite creates claims from the settings in effect when attendance is entered.

For the rest of the admission paperwork, see What to Complete When a Client Is Admitted or Renewed.

⚙ How It Works

1. Open the Client Center

Open Client Center from the ElderSuite main menu.

For a Limited Access sign-in, Add New Client and Add Client require the Edit Clients permission. Without it, those commands are disabled. Client List itself is not permission-controlled.

2. Start a New Client

Open Client List, then click Add Client, the first button on the toolbar. Client Information opens ready for a new client.

You can also click Add New Client, the first link under Related Activities. It opens the same window in add mode.

Only one Client Information window can be open at a time. If one is already open, ElderSuite brings the existing window forward rather than opening a second copy. Finish or close that record before starting another client.

3. Enter the Client’s Name and Contact Information

Contact Info opens first. Enter a first name, middle initial, last name, or nickname. ElderSuite builds the client name heading at the top as you type. This becomes the client’s search name and cannot be edited directly.

Complete the remaining contact details that apply, including addresses, phone numbers, and a photo if one is available.

4. Complete Admission Info Before Entering Attendance

Open Admission Info and complete the sections that apply to the client.

On Admission Dates, enter the Start Date. Leave the Withdrawal Date blank for a current client.

On Payment Settings, choose the correct Payment Type before anyone records attendance. ElderSuite uses the payment settings on the record when attendance is entered, and later changes do not rewrite claims that already exist.

If the correct payment type is not available, open Client Center → Manage Payment Types, add it there, then return to the client record.

For Medicaid or insurance billed through a clearinghouse, complete Claim Setup from Payment Settings. Claim Setup requires a saved client record, so ElderSuite offers to save the client first when necessary.

On Scheduling, enter the days and times the client normally attends if the center uses scheduled times. Scheduling is available Monday through Friday and does not replace required attendance records.

Use the remaining tabs as needed for emergency contacts, case worker, physician, pharmacy, hospital, alerts, and other client information. The Case Worker, Physician, Pharmacy, and Hospital tabs select records from shared lists. Their detail boxes are read-only, so edit the underlying list item from Related Activities when a phone number or address needs to change.

5. Save the Client

Click Save & Close on the toolbar to store the client record and close the window.

A new client must be saved before you can use Claim Setup, Add Note, or Manage Documents. If you start one of those actions from an unsaved client, ElderSuite asks whether to save first.

After saving, signed admission paperwork can be scanned or attached to the client’s Client Documents. See How to Scan Documents into ElderSuite for that workflow.

When the client is ready for service records, continue with How to Record Attendance and Transportation Times in ElderSuite.

Editing a client's information

Open Client Center from the ElderSuite main menu, then open Client List. Select the client and click Edit Client, or double-click the client's row. Client Information opens on that client.

Change the fields that need updating on any tab. Nothing on this window saves as you type. When the record is ready, click Save & Close on the toolbar (or press Alt+S). ElderSuite writes the record and closes the window when the save succeeds. If the save fails, the window stays open.

For a Limited Access sign-in, editing needs the Edit Clients permission. Without it, Edit Client and Add Client are unavailable.

Deleting or inactivating a client

ElderSuite offers two different actions. Prefer Inactive when a client has left, moved, or stopped attending and you need to keep their history. Use Delete only when the record should not exist at all (for example a duplicate or a record entered for the wrong person).

Inactivate a client (keeps history)

Open the client from Client Center → Client List → Edit Client.

1. Check Inactive at the top right of Client Information, level with the client name heading. The check box is always visible and is not on a tab.
2. On Admission Info → Admission Dates, enter the last day the client attended in Withdrawal Date.
3. Click Save & Close.

Inactive takes the client out of the default Active Clients list. The full record stays in ElderSuite. Switch View to All Clients on Client List when you need to open that record again.

Withdrawal Date is what stops the client from loading onto daily attendance and meal rosters after that date. Those screens use the admission dates, not the Inactive check box. If you check Inactive and leave Withdrawal Date blank, the client can keep appearing on attendance and meal rosters every day. Attendance already recorded for the client is not erased when you inactivate or set a withdrawal date.

Both settings are reversible: clear Inactive, or clear Withdrawal Date, then Save & Close.

Delete a client (permanent)

Deleting removes the client record and all associated records — including attendance, claims, assessments, notes, documents, and medication administration history — with no way to recover them. ElderSuite does not block the delete because the client has attendance, claims, or other history. The confirmations below are the safeguard.

1. Open the client in Client Information (Client List → Edit Client, or double-click the row).
2. Click Delete on the Client Information toolbar. Delete Client Confirmation opens.
3. Type YES in capital letters in the confirmation box, then click Continue. Lowercase yes is refused.
4. Answer Yes to the last-chance question. After that, the removal runs and cannot be stopped from the please-wait message.

On Delete Client Confirmation, ElderSuite recommends changing the client's status to Inactive instead, because that preserves the client's history while keeping the record out of future active results. Click Cancel (or press Esc) if you decide not to delete, then use the inactivate steps above.

If Delete is grayed out, the sign-in is Limited Access without the Delete Clients permission. An administrator grants that permission on the employee record in the Provider Center; the employee must sign out and sign back in before Delete becomes usable.

You cannot delete a client from the list alone. The only route is Delete on an open Client Information record.

Reading the client list

Client List (the Clients window) opens when you sign in and can be reopened from Client Center → Client List. The list itself is read-only. Changes are made in the windows it opens, such as Client Information.

The main list column staff use is Search Name, sorted A to Z. Columns cannot be moved, resized, grouped, or filtered by the user. Type while the list is selected to jump to a matching name, or use the Find box and Find button for a search string.

Use the View dropdown (default Active Clients) to show only active clients, or choose All Clients to include inactive clients. Under All Clients, an unlabeled inactive-marker column appears as the first column so inactive clients can be told apart. Under Active Clients, that column is hidden. Clear the Find box before changing View, or the view change does not take effect.

Toolbar actions on the list include Add Client, Edit Client, Add Document, Add Note, Add Task, and Export Client Records. There is no Print button on this list; for a printable roster use How to Print the Client Roster in ElderSuite. To write client fields to a spreadsheet file, see How to Export Client Records in ElderSuite.

With a client selected, the right-hand Client Information panel is also read-only. It can show Alerts in red, the authorization status wording (Authorization Expired, Authorization Expires in [n] Days, or Unknown Authorization Expiration Date), and the Intake Check List boxes (Case Information, Health Assessment & Service Plan, Physician's Order, Meal Application, Social History Assessment). Those check boxes only report whether each record exists; they cannot be checked or cleared by hand on this panel.

✅ Important Limitations

Enter at least one name field before saving or printing a new client. ElderSuite uses the name heading as the client’s search name, and the record cannot be saved while that heading is blank. If the window is closed before a name has been entered, the blank client record closes without a save prompt.

No other field on the record is required by the save routine. Date of birth, addresses, admission dates, and payment settings can all be left empty, so complete the information needed for the client’s admission before moving into attendance or billing.

Changing Payment Type replaces the pay rate, billing codes, and related claim fields on the client record with that payment type’s defaults. Information entered manually can be replaced the next time the payment type changes.

🔐 Privacy & Security

Client records and attached documents may contain sensitive information. Confirm the client name before saving the record or attaching paperwork.

In Client Documents, a scanned or attached document is first copied to the computer being used. It is stored with the client only after Save & Close is clicked in the Client Documents window. Closing without saving leaves the client’s previously stored documents unchanged.

💡 Need More Help?

For step-by-step assistance, click Ask Eddie from within ElderSuite.