---
title: "Find or register a patient"
description: "Find a patient by name, document or phone number, and register a new one with or without an appointment."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getarbol.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Find or register a patient

Do this when you need to see a patient's appointments or details, or when someone new arrives. Agenda keeps one record per patient with their details, appointments, notes and files.

## Before you start

- Every Agenda role can search for patients and open their record.
- To register a patient you need the **Recepción**, **Profesional** or **Administración** role.

## Find a patient

1. Press **Ctrl+K** (**⌘K** on a Mac) from any page, or click **Buscar…** at the top (on the agenda, the magnifying glass).

2. Type at least two letters of the name, or the document or phone number.

3. Pick the patient with the arrows and **Enter**, or with a click, to open their record. Under their name you can also choose **Agendar para este paciente** (book for this patient) or see their **Próxima cita** (next appointment).

Before you type anything, search shows your **Pacientes recientes** (recent patients).

### From the Pacientes page

In the menu, click **Pacientes**. Type in **Nombre, documento o teléfono…** to filter the list. Each row shows the phone number, the **Última cita** (last appointment), the **Próxima** (next) and how many **Citas** (appointments) they have. Each row's **⋯** button has **Ver ficha** (view record), **Agendar para este paciente**, **Llamar** (call), **WhatsApp** and **Archivar paciente** (archive patient).

## Register a new patient

If the patient is asking for an appointment, you don't need to register them first: when you [book the appointment](/en/agenda/book-an-appointment/) with their name and document, Agenda creates their record. Register them this way when you want to save them without an appointment.

1. In **Pacientes**, click **Nuevo paciente** (new patient). You can also do it from search: if nobody matches what you typed, choose **Nuevo paciente**.

2. Type the **Nombre del paciente** (patient's name) and, if you have them, the **Documento** (pick the type and type the number), **Teléfono**, **Correo** (email), **Entidad / EPS** (payer) and **Fecha de nacimiento** (date of birth). Fields marked **\*** are required in your organization.

3. Click **Crear paciente** (create patient).

## What you see when you're done

The new patient's record opens, with the tabs **Citas** (appointments), **Notas** (notes), **Archivos** (files, if your organization uses documents) and **Datos** (details). From there you can [complete their details](/en/agenda/patient-record/) or click **Agendar cita**.

## Common problems

**It says «Ya existe un paciente con ese documento» (a patient with that document already exists).** That document belongs to a registered patient. Click **Abrir su ficha** (open their record) to see them; don't create a duplicate.

**The patient doesn't show up.** Check the spelling of the name, or try the document or phone number. If someone archived them, they don't appear in the list or in search: in **Pacientes**, click **Archivados** (archived) to see and restore them (see [Update a patient's record](/en/agenda/patient-record/)).

**It says «Escribe al menos dos letras» (type at least two letters).** The list searches from two letters.

**You don't see the Nuevo paciente button.** Your role is **Consulta**, which is view only.

Source: https://docs.getarbol.com/en/agenda/patients/index.mdx