Guide

Add a patient in Gale

Summary

Press + Patient in the sidebar, or Add patient at the top of Caseload. Enter the patient's first and last name and the state they live in, add their date of birth, email and mobile if you have them, then press Add patient. The patient joins your caseload with no visit booked, and nothing is sent to them.

By Gale Editorial · Updated 2026-09-24. How we write.

Where to add a patient

Press + Patient in the sidebar, under + Start a visit. It opens the add form on Caseload. You can also press + Add patient at the top of Caseload itself.

The patient is added to the caseload of the clinician you are working as. Nothing is booked and nothing is sent. Book the first visit whenever you are ready.

Bringing a whole panel over from another system is a different job, done in bulk. Bringing your patient panel across covers it.

What the form asks for

The form needs the patient's first and last name and the state they live in. Date of birth, email and mobile are optional, but add the date of birth when you have it: it is how Gale spots a patient who is already on your caseload.

The state matters because Gale checks your license against it when a visit is booked. Pick the state where the patient lives, which is not always where your office is.

Two boxes record what the patient has agreed to: email allowed and text allowed. Ticking them records the patient's permission. It does not send anything, and no message goes out until patient contact is turned on for your practice.

If the patient is already on your caseload

When you enter a date of birth, Gale checks the name and date of birth against the caseload before it saves. If they match someone already there, the form shows that person and links to their chart instead of making a second record. A second chart for one person splits every later note between two files.

The same check holds when two people on your team enter the same patient at the same moment.

A patient in a state where you have no license on file

The patient is still added. The form tells you that you have no license on file for that state yet, and it does not offer to book a visit. Booking checks the license again, so a visit can be booked once that license is on file. Your licensed states are listed under Licensing & entity.

If you see patients in more than one state, the compact map sets out which licenses travel and which do not.

Who can add a patient

Anyone on your team who may book visits can add a patient, so clinicians and front desk staff can. Nurses and billers do not see the + Patient button or the Add patient button on Caseload, because the access an owner gives them does not include booking visits.

Owners set that access under Settings.

Booking a first visit for someone new

After you add a patient, the confirmation links to Book a first visit, which opens New visit with the patient already chosen.

You can also start from New visit and choose New patient there. That form asks for the same details, including the state, and creates the patient and the visit together.

Common questions

Yes. Press + Patient in the sidebar or Add patient on Caseload. The patient joins your caseload with no visit booked, and you can book one later from the confirmation or from New visit.

No. The email allowed and text allowed boxes record what the patient agreed to. Nothing is sent until patient contact is turned on for your practice.

If you entered a date of birth and someone on your caseload has the same name and date of birth, the form links to their chart and does not create a second one.

Adding a patient goes with permission to book visits. If your access does not include booking, as with nurses and billers, the button does not appear. An owner can change your access in Settings.

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