Overview

This guide helps you diagnose and fix common census report discrepancies where patient counts don't match actual facility capacity or patients appear at incorrect locations. These issues typically stem from data integrity problems between your CRM and EMR systems.

Common Symptoms/Errors

Census showing more patients than facility bed capacity (e.g., 34 patients in a 24-bed facility)
Patients appearing at wrong facilities or treatment programs
Patient names missing or showing incorrectly on census reports
Discharged patients still appearing as active in census
Unable to pull EMR updates for specific patients

Root Causes

Census discrepancies typically result from multiple data integrity issues:

Duplicate intake opportunities: Created by system administrators or manual entry
Broken EMR links: Preventing status updates from syncing properly
Incorrect facility/treatment program mappings: Causing patients to appear in wrong census counts
Test patients: Left active in EMR system
Missing discharge information: Patients without both discharge date AND discharge type remain active indefinitely
Manual record creation: Records created without EMR connection

Step-by-Step Resolution

Step 1: Identify Problematic Records

Run the "Current Census by Facility" report
Compare reported numbers with actual facility headcount
Note specific patient names that appear incorrect or duplicated
Document patients appearing at wrong facilities

Step 2: Audit for Duplicate Records

Navigate to Leads in your CRM
Select Find Duplicates
Choose Opportunity Name
Click Search
Identify duplicate intake opportunities for the same patient
Note which records were created manually vs. through EMR integration

Step 3: Fix Duplicate Patient Records

For each duplicate set, identify the primary record (usually created by EHR integration)
Merge or link the correct record to the EMR
Ensure the MR Number is populated on the primary record
Update the status to reflect current patient status (e.g., Discharged)

Step 4: Re-establish Broken EMR Links

Identify patients showing "unable to pull EMR updates"
Navigate to the patient's intake opportunity
Verify the EMR connection is properly established
Re-link the record to the EMR if connection is broken
Confirm MR Number is populated

Step 5: Correct Facility/Program Mappings

Review patients appearing in wrong treatment programs
Access the patient record and verify correct facility assignment
Update the treatment program mapping to match actual patient location
Ensure facility mappings align between CRM and EMR

Step 6: Address Missing Discharge Information

For discharged patients still appearing active, verify both:
Discharge Date is populated
Discharge Type is populated
Update missing information in EMR system
Allow time for sync to update CRM records

Step 7: Remove Test Patients

Identify any test patients in the EMR system
Work with EMR administrator to properly remove or mark test records
Ensure test patients are not counting toward active census

Verification

After completing the resolution steps:

Re-run the "Current Census by Facility" report
Verify patient counts match actual facility headcount
Confirm no patients appear at incorrect facilities
Check that discharged patients no longer appear as active
Validate EMR sync is working properly for all patients

⚠️ Important Notes

Discharge Requirements: For a patient to be removed from active census, BOTH discharge date AND discharge type must be populated in the EMR
Manual Records: Records created manually in CRM without EMR connection will not sync status updates automatically
Sync Timing: Allow time for EMR changes to sync to CRM before verifying fixes