Absences and hospitalisations

When a resident is away (hospitalisation, holidays, family outing), this affects the billing of the period. WideCare adjusts it automatically from the absence you record.

Where to record it

The same list is reachable from two places:

  • Billing → Facturation → Absences, for whoever bills;

  • Nursing Home → Residents → Absences, for the staff on the floor when the resident leaves.

The resident’s record (Absences smart button), the stay (Absences tab) and the + button of the billing dashboard open it too.

Record an absence

  1. Click New.

  2. Fill in:

    • the resident (and their stay, filled in for you);

    • the Absence Type: Hospitalization, Vacation, Family Outing or Other;

    • for a hospitalisation, the Destination hospital; otherwise, the Destination (free text);

    • the Departure date and time.

  3. Click Confirm: the absence days start counting.

  4. When the resident comes back, fill in the Return date and time, then click Close (return recorded).

Leave the return empty while the resident is still away. The list shows those absences in orange, and the Ongoing (no return) filter finds them.

The calendar helps

The date pickers only offer days within the resident’s stay, and strike out the days already taken by another absence. Under the form, Existing absences for this resident lists the others.

Statuses

Status

Meaning

Draft

Entered, not counted yet.

Confirmed

The resident is away; the days count.

Closed

The return is recorded.

Cancelled

Withdrawn; it no longer counts.

Effect on the bill

Once the return is known, the absence shows what it costs:

  • Total Absence Days — the days counted as absent over the whole absence;

  • Billing Days — the days the home will not collect from the resident, under the absence discount rules, and Discount basis, which says which rule applied and why the result may be 0;

  • Absence Days (return month) and Days to Bill (return month) — the share of the month the resident came back in.

Whether a day of departure or return counts as a presence day depends on the time: by default, a departure after noon or a return before noon counts as a presence day. The country pack can apply its own thresholds.

The care allowance (the insurer’s share), where the country bills one, follows the presence days. The accommodation share keeps being billed: the room stays reserved. It is reduced only by the absence discount rules below.

You don’t need to click “Refresh”

With automatic billing refresh turned on (the default), confirming, closing or cancelling an absence updates the billing of the resident concerned on its own. See Billing settings.

In Belgium

Days are counted on presence at noon (Brussels time). An absence of more than 72 hours, or any hospitalisation, prepares an Annexe 11 notification for the mutuality as soon as it is recorded; the return prepares an Annexe 7. Stepping the absence back withdraws them while they are not sent. See Billing a month in Belgium and Agreements (eAgreement). For a day care user, see Absences and hospitalisation of a day care user.

Absence discount rules

Managers decide how much of the room an absence takes off the bill, in Billing → Configuration → Absence Discount Rules. Each rule has:

  • the Absence Type it applies to, and an optional validity (Start Date, End Date);

  • a Days Threshold — the absence days that must be exceeded before the discount starts (0 = from the first day);

  • a Discount Type — Percentage of daily room rate or Amount per day, with its value;

  • the Discount Product used on the billing line.

Two active rules for the same absence type cannot overlap in time. Without a rule, an absence does not reduce the accommodation share.

Cancel or step back

On the absence, depending on its status:

  • Cancel — withdraws it; the billing is recomputed as if it had never happened;

  • Reset to draft — steps a confirmed or cancelled absence back to draft;

  • Cancel return — reopens a closed absence (back to confirmed).

Month already invoiced

If every month the absence spans is already settled for this resident (closed period or posted invoice), a warning on the absence says so: it is still recorded, but it no longer changes the billing. When only some months are posted, the period shows Corrections pending: click Refresh to create the supplementary invoice or credit note. The Corrective docs smart button on the absence lists them.

Going further