Duplicates happen: a patient books online with a new email, or reception adds someone who already exists. Merging folds the two into one record and can't be reversed, so check both first.

When a patient exists twice

Duplicates happen: a patient books online with a different email, a receptionist doesn't find the record and adds a new one, a surname changes. ClinyPal refuses an obvious duplicate when staff add a patient (A patient with the same name and a matching email, phone or date of birth already exists), but the ones that slip through need merging, not deleting, so the history ends up on one record.

A merge can't be undone. Everything on the duplicate moves to the record you keep and the duplicate is removed. Open both records side by side and confirm the date of birth and contact details before merging.

Merge them

1

Open one of the two records and select Merge

On the Patients page, select the patient and choose Merge in the preview. Step 1, Find duplicate, lists likely matches with the reason: Same DOB, Same phone, Same email or Similar name. If none is right, search by name.

2

Compare and choose which record to keep

Step 2, Compare & confirm, shows both records side by side with their live counts of appointments, invoices, documents and more, leaving out canceled appointments and void, refunded or written-off invoices so you're comparing what matters. Pick the record to keep; usually the one with the longer history or the better contact details.

3

Confirm

The page warns that the other record will be permanently deleted after its data moves over and that this can't be undone. You'll see Patients merged successfully.

The Merge patients dialog at the Compare & confirm step, showing two records side by side with counts of appointments, invoices and documents, a choice of which to keep, and a warning that the other record will be deleted.
Step 2 of a merge, comparing two Amira Haddad records and choosing the one with eleven appointments as the record to keep.

What happens to the two records

  • Every appointment, invoice, payment, note, letter, form, document, consent, recall and message on the duplicate is moved to the kept record. The audit log keeps the original references.
  • Contact and identity details the kept record is missing are filled in from the duplicate. Details the kept record already has are left alone.
  • If both records hold a booking for the same practitioner at the same date and time, the duplicate's copy is canceled as a clinic cancellation, so any deposit on it goes to the kept patient's account credit.
  • A duplicate with an opening balance that hasn't been converted yet can't be merged until you convert it on the duplicate's record first. See Account credit and opening balances.
  • The duplicate record is deleted. If the merge fails partway, nothing is changed and you're told to try again.