From paper or Excel to patient software

How to import your patient list from Excel

The import reads CSV files, the format Excel saves with File, Save as. The values can be separated by commas or by semicolons: the software recognises both.

You find the import under Settings, on the Patient data tab. Once you choose the file, the software reads the column headings, shows which column will go into which field and displays the first rows exactly as they will be saved. Nothing is added until you press the import button.

New patients are filed under one of the clinic's patient record templates, which you choose on the same screen. If you picked your specialty when you registered, the matching template is ready from day one.

The same screen offers a model file, with the headings the software expects and one example row that you delete before importing.

Which columns the software recognises

Column headings can be in Albanian, English or Italian. Capital letters, accents and punctuation make no difference, so Datëlindja and datelindja read the same. First name and surname are required; the other columns are not.

Columns the software does not recognise are ignored rather than put into the wrong field. If a heading is matched wrongly, you change it by hand before importing.

• First name: Emri, First name, Name, Given name, Nome
• Surname: Mbiemri, Last name, Surname, Family name, Cognome
• Date of birth: Datëlindja, Data e lindjes, Date of birth, DOB, Birthdate
• Gender: Gjinia, Gender, Sex
• Phone: Telefoni, Telefon, Tel, Numri, Phone, Mobile
• Email: Email, E-mail, Posta, Mail

Dates, gender and the rows that are left out

A date of birth can be written 31.12.1980, 31/12/1980 or 1980-12-31. The day is read first, as dates are usually written in Albania and Kosovo, unless the file's own dates show that the month comes first. A file that mixes the two is refused as a whole, before anything is saved.

A patient with no date of birth is imported without one. A row with no first name or surname, or with a date of birth that cannot be read, is left out and listed by its row number, so you can correct it in Excel and import the file again. The software never guesses a date, because a wrong birth date on a medical record is worse than a blank one.

Gender reads M, F, Mashkull, Femër, Burrë, Grua, Male or Female, and NB, Non-binary or Jobinar as non-binary; a value it does not recognise is stored as not disclosed. A phone number that is too long or an email address that is not recognised is left off, but the patient is still imported and you get a note for that row.

One file holds up to 5000 rows; a longer list is split into several files. If you import the same file twice, for example after the connection dropped, patients already on file with the same name and date of birth, or the same name and phone, are not added again. Every import stays in the Previous imports list.

Consent to messages does not come with the import

Patients brought in from an old spreadsheet are marked as not having agreed to be contacted. A column in Excel is no proof that a patient agreed, so the software sends these patients no email, no check-up reminder and no announcement until their consent is recorded on their record.

The simplest way is to ask each patient when they come in for a visit and record their consent on their record that same day.

What to do with the paper folders

The folders do not all need scanning before you start. A practical way is to scan a patient's folder when they come back for a visit, and attach it to their record.

Each patient record takes PDFs, photos, including HEIC photos from an iPhone, and DICOM files, up to 4 MB each. A referral letter or a lab result photographed with a phone is enough. A password-protected PDF is not accepted: print it to a new PDF and upload that.

Large scans, such as a CBCT study or a panoramic X-ray, are not uploaded as files. They stay where they are, for example in Google Drive, and the record holds only a named link to each one.

An old signature on paper can be photographed and added to the record. Only the ink is kept, without the paper behind it, and the signature is labelled as coming from a paper document.

Your data stays yours: the ZIP export

Moving to software should be reversible. Under Settings, on the same tab, the Download all clinic data button prepares one ZIP file with everything your clinic keeps in Medical Solutions. If you only need the list, the patients can also be downloaded as a spreadsheet that opens in Excel.

The export works even when the clinic has no active subscription: the two downloads then appear on the payment page. Every full download is recorded in the activity log, and the clinic is asked by email to confirm that it was them.

• Every patient's details, as a spreadsheet and as JSON
• Every patient record, prescription and quote, as a PDF
• The calendar's appointments, as a spreadsheet
• Every attached file, and the photos, drawings and signatures at full resolution
• The links to scans kept outside the software

A plan for the first week

A simple order that lets the clinic keep working normally while it switches:

• Day 1: register the clinic, choose your specialty and fill in the clinic profile, with the logo and contact details that print on prescriptions and quotes.
• Day 2: add the doctors, the services and the price list.
• Day 3: save the patient list from Excel as CSV and import it.
• Days 4 and 5: put new appointments in the calendar. New patients can be booked under their name alone, before any record exists.
• All through the week: every patient who comes in gets a full record, and their paper folder is scanned and attached.