Correcting something you got wrong
There is no Delete. Every kind of mistake has its own correction, and each one leaves both the original and the fix visible.
2 min read
You will make mistakes — everybody does. Fikacare is built on the assumption that you will, and that the honest record of a mistake and its correction is worth more than a tidy record that hides both.
Nothing is deleted. Not by you, not by a manager, not by whoever supports the system. What exists instead is a specific correction for each kind of mistake.
Find the right one
| What went wrong | What to do | What is left behind |
|---|---|---|
| A spelling, a phone number, a date of birth | Edit Patient on the profile | The old value, with who changed it and when |
| A consultation note says the wrong thing | Amend note on the note | Both notes, each with its author and time |
| A charge should not have been raised | Reverse it from the patient's account | The charge and its reversal, both visible |
| A receipt was issued in error | Void it | The receipt marked void, with a reason and who authorised it |
| You are on the wrong patient entirely | Stop. See below. | — |
The wrong patient
If you have written into the wrong patient's record, do not try to tidy it away. Amend the entry so that it says plainly that it was recorded against the wrong patient, then record it correctly against the right one.
Both records now tell the truth: one says an entry was made in error and corrected, the other holds the real entry. A reviewer can follow it. A deleted entry would leave the second record looking as though the clinician never wrote anything at the time, which is a worse story and a false one.
Why no Delete
Because a clinical record's value comes entirely from being trustworthy. A record that can be edited afterwards cannot answer the only question that matters when a case is reviewed: what did the clinician know, and when?
The same reasoning covers money. A balance you could type is a balance somebody could type. So there is no balance to type — only transactions, each with an author and a time.