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 usual route is Client List → Add Client. You can also use Add New Client under Related Activities.

Enter at least a first name or last name so the record can save. 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.

If a Client Information window is already open, the first click on Add New Client brings that window forward and closes it instead of starting another record. Click Add New Client again to begin the new client. Only one Client Information window can be open at a time.

3. Enter the Client’s Name and Contact Information

Contact Info opens first. Enter at least a first name or last name. The client name heading at the top fills in as you type. This is the client’s search name, and the heading cannot be typed into 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.

✅ Important Limitations

While the client name heading is blank, Save & Close and Print do nothing and show no message. Closing the window also discards what was entered without asking.

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.

⚠ Enter a Name Before You Save

If Save & Close appears to do nothing, check the client name heading at the top of the window. Enter at least a first name or last name on Contact Info. Once the heading appears, save again.

🔐 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.