How to Mark a Patient as Deceased

If a patient passes away, you can update their profile by marking them as deceased. Doing so preserves their historical information while preventing future communications and helping staff accurately manage patient records. This article explains how to mark a patient as deceased and update their subscription preferences.

When to Use This

Use this article when:

• A patient has passed away and their record should be archived
• You need to prevent future communications from being sent to the patient
• You want to maintain the patient's historical records while indicating their status

What You Need 

Before you begin:

• The Deceased field must be visible in patient profiles
• Access to edit patient profiles

Permissions

You must have:

• Permission to view and edit patient profiles
• To enable the Deceased field, a user must have access to General System Settings

Marking a Patient as Deceased 

1. Open the patient's profile
2. Select the Deceased checkbox
3. Enter the date of death, if known. This step is optional.

4. Navigate to the Subscriptions section 
5. Clear all subscription preferences to prevent future communications from being sent to the patient

6. Click Save 

Result

The patient's profile is marked as deceased, their historical information remains accessible, and they will no longer receive communications through enabled subscription channels.

Avoid Common Issues

• Ensure all subscription preferences are removed after marking the patient as deceased
• Confirm that the Deceased field is visible before attempting to update the profile
• Enter a date only if the information is known and appropriate to record

Troubleshooting

I do not see the Deceased option in the patient profile

• A user with access to General System Settings must enable the field.

The patient is still receiving communications

• Verify that all subscription preferences have been unchecked and saved.

Can I leave the date field blank?

• Yes. The date is optional and can be added later if necessary.

Showing the Deceased Field in Patient Profiles

1. Go to Settings
2. Under System & Company Settings, select General
3. Click Patients
4. Navigate to the Patient Profile section
5. Find Deceased and set it to Show
6. Click Save