Referral pipeline

The Pipeline tab on Referrals lists your prospective patients. A prospective patient is a person who asked about care and is not a client yet. You move each prospect through stages, from New enquiry to Agreement sent, and then admit them as a client. Prospects are not counted in your monthly bill until you admit them.

Quick answer

Open Referrals and click the Pipeline tab. Click New prospective patient to add someone. Click a row to open the record. Use the row of stage buttons at the top of the record to move the prospect along. Click Admit as a client when care is ready to start.

Open Referrals

What the pipeline is

A prospect is a patient record that is not active yet. It is the same record the person has after you admit them, so nothing is copied or retyped at admission. The Pipeline tab and the Prospective Patients list on the Patients page show the same records.

A prospect has one of these stages:

New enquiry. Someone asked about care. This is the stage every new prospect starts at.
Contacted. You have reached out.
Assessment booked. An assessment is on the calendar.
Assessment done. The assessment is finished.
Agreement sent. The service agreement is out for signature.
On hold. You paused the lead. It stays in the open pipeline.
Not proceeding. The person is not going ahead. It leaves the open pipeline.
Admitted. The prospect was admitted. Admitting a prospect moves them to your client list, so this stage is usually empty.

1. Open the Pipeline tab and read the stage buttons

Open Referrals

Click Referrals in the left sidebar, then click the Pipeline tab.
The page opens on Referral Sources. The four cards at the top are Active Sources, In Pipeline, Conversions, and Revenue. In Pipeline counts the prospects you are still working, and shows how many of them are new.
Read the row of stage buttons above the list.
The buttons run Open, New enquiry, Contacted, Assessment booked, Assessment done, Agreement sent, Admitted, Not proceeding, and On hold. Each button shows a count. Click a button to show only that stage.
Know what Open shows.
The tab starts on Open. Open lists every prospect except those marked Not proceeding. It includes On hold. The Open count is the same number as the In Pipeline card.
Find the prospects who are not proceeding.
Click Not proceeding in the row of stage buttons. You can also click Show hidden people in the line under the list, for example “2 prospects who are not proceeding are hidden.” That line only shows on Open, and only when someone is hidden. Nothing is deleted. A prospect you offboarded counts as Not proceeding too.

2. Add a prospective patient

Click New prospective patient.
The button is at the right of the stage buttons on the Pipeline tab. The same button is on the Prospective Patients list on the Patients page. Both open the same form.
Enter what you know now. Only the first name is required.
The form has these parts: Who needs care (First name, Last name, Phone, Email, Zip code), Who we spoke to (Caller name, Relationship, Caller phone, Caller email), What they need (Care needed, Estimated hours / week, How urgent is it?), Where they came from (the referral source), and Notes from the call. The form warns you about a missing last name or missing phone and email. It does not stop you from saving.
Click Save prospective patient.
The prospect starts at New enquiry and shows in the pipeline right away. When you admit them later, the caller is added to their Contacts with the relationship, phone, and email you entered.

3. Read the list and open a prospect record

Read the columns: Name, Stage, Referral source, Urgency, Owner, Est. hours, Next step.
The list is sorted by inquiry date, newest first. Under each name you see the date, for example “Enquired Nov 3, 2026.” Referral source reads Not recorded when none is set. Owner shows the staff member assigned to the prospect, or Unassigned. Est. hours shows hours per week, or two dashes. The list does not change a stage. It only opens records.
Use the Next step column to see what is missing.
Next step names the first missing item, for example “Add date of birth” or “Add home address · 2 more.” It checks full legal name, home address, date of birth, what care they need, and who pays. It shows Ready to admit when nothing is missing.
Click a row to open the prospect record.
The record is the normal patient record, so every tab works on it. A banner at the top says Prospective patient, shows the stage, and says the person is not counted in your monthly bill. The banner also has an Onboarding percent bar and a “Still needed” list. That list also checks for a phone number.

4. Move a prospect through the stages

Click a stage in the banner on the prospect record.
The stage row runs New enquiry, Contacted, Assessment booked, Assessment done, and Agreement sent. The stage changes when you click. There is no confirmation. The steps up to the current stage are blue.
Click an earlier stage to move the prospect back.
You can skip stages and go back. A click on any of the five stages also brings a prospect back from On hold or Not proceeding.
Change the stage by hand when you do the work.
AveeCare does not move the stage for you. If you schedule an assessment visit, click Assessment booked yourself.

5. Mark a prospect On hold or Not proceeding

Click On hold to pause a lead.
On hold is next to the five stages, after a short divider. It changes the stage at once. The prospect stays in Open and in the In Pipeline count. The Pipeline tab also has an On hold button in the row of stage buttons, with its own count.
Click Not proceeding, type a reason if you want one, and click Mark not proceeding.
A box opens with the text “Reason (optional), e.g. chose another agency.” The reason can be up to 300 characters. You can leave it empty. Press Escape or click Cancel to close the box. After you save, the prospect leaves Open. The record shows “Reason not proceeding” with your text.
To bring someone back, click any of the five stages.
The prospect returns to the open pipeline at that stage. The reason is cleared. A prospect who was offboarded is different. The record says they were offboarded and counted as not proceeding, and the stage buttons are hidden.

6. Schedule an assessment visit

Open Scheduling

Add the visit in Scheduling and type the name of the prospect.
The visit form leaves prospects out of its client list. It says “Prospective clients are left out, type a name to find one.” When you type the name, the prospect appears with a Prospective badge.
Read the Prospective patient message when you save.
The message says the person is not admitted yet. A visit for a prospect is scheduled normally. It does not appear in billing or payroll until the person is admitted. The message offers three buttons: Admit [first name] and schedule, Schedule anyway, and Cancel.
Click Schedule anyway for an assessment before admission.
The visit is created and the person stays a prospect. The message warns you. It never blocks you. If you choose Admit and schedule and the admission fails, the visit is still created and you see a message. You can admit the person from their record.

7. Admit the prospect as a client

Click Admit as a client in the banner on the prospect record.
The Admit dialog opens. It says the person moves into your active client list.
Read the billing message and the list of missing items.
The dialog says admitting adds the person to your billable client count. You are billed $6 per client per month, based on the highest daily count of active clients in the month. A client counts once they have been active for 24 hours. After that, moving them back to prospects does not reduce this month's bill. If items are missing, the dialog lists them and says you can admit now and fill them in afterwards.
Click Admit [first name] as a client.
The message reads “[Name] is now an active client.” The record leaves the pipeline and joins your client list. If you entered a caller, the caller is added to the Contacts tab. Click Not yet to close the dialog and change nothing.
Use Move back to prospects only to fix a mistake.
A small Move back to prospects link shows on a client who was admitted from a prospect. It returns the record to the Prospective Patients list at On hold. It does not undo this month's billing count if the client was already counted.

Where prospects come from

You add them. Use New prospective patient on the Pipeline tab or on the Patients page.
A website inquiry. Open Inquiries, click the Public tab, open the inquiry, and click Make Prospect. The form opens with the name, contact details, and message filled in. After you save, the button changes to Prospect created. The button shows only on public inquiries, never on a message from an existing client.
The client application link. On Referrals, click Referral links. Under “For families asking for care,” click Turn on client applications on the Client application link card. Each form a family sends becomes a prospect at New enquiry, and it also opens an inquiry.
A one-time referral link. In the Referral links window, a package that arrives through a one-time link has a Make prospect from this package button. After you use it, the button changes to a Prospect made link.
Old referrals. If you still have referrals from the old pipeline, an amber banner on the Pipeline tab offers Import them. Nothing is deleted, and a second run does not make duplicates. The old statuses map to the stages above. Declined and Lost both become Not proceeding, and a decline reason is kept as the reason. An old Admitted referral becomes a prospect at Admitted. Click Admit as a client on it to finish. The banner goes away when nothing is left to import.

Referral source credit

The referral source is the doctor, hospital, or person who sent the prospect to you. Set it in the Where they came from part of the New prospective patient form. For a prospect you already added, open the record, click Modify Patient, and use Referred by under How they found us. If the name is not on the list, the picker offers to add it as a new referral source.

The Referral Sources tab counts these records. In a source's detail drawer, Referred is the number of people tied to that source and Became clients is how many are no longer prospects. The Conversions card on Referrals counts people with a referral source who became clients, including clients you added straight to the client list with a source. Revenue counts money paid on invoices for those clients. It is not a projection. A prospect you offboard stays in the referral history, so the source's counts still include them.

Common pitfalls

Looking for a prospect under Open. Open hides prospects who are Not proceeding, and offboarded prospects count as Not proceeding. Click Not proceeding or Show hidden people.
Adding a lead as a client. The full Add Patient form makes an active client, and active clients count in your monthly bill. Use New prospective patient for someone who is not a client yet.
Expecting the stage to change by itself. Scheduling a visit does not move the stage. Click the stage on the record.
Trying to change a stage from the list. The list only opens records. Open the record and use the stage buttons in the banner.
Admitting too early. After a client has been active for 24 hours, Move back to prospects does not reduce this month's bill. Admit when care is ready to start.
Leaving the referral source empty. The Referral source column reads Not recorded, and no source gets credit. Set it in the form or under Modify Patient.

Frequently asked questions

New enquiry, Contacted, Assessment booked, Assessment done, and Agreement sent, in that order. A prospect can also be On hold or Not proceeding. When you admit a prospect, they become an active client and leave the pipeline.

The Pipeline tab opens on Open. Open hides prospects marked Not proceeding, including prospects you offboarded. Click Not proceeding in the row of stage buttons, or click Show hidden people under the list. Nothing is deleted.

No. A prospect is not an active client, so a prospect is not counted. The count starts when you admit the person. The Admit dialog shows the rule: $6 per client per month, based on the highest daily count of active clients in the month.

The record becomes an active client and leaves the pipeline. The person is added to your billable client count, and a client counts once they have been active for 24 hours. If you entered a caller, the caller is added to the Contacts tab. You can admit a prospect even if some details are still missing.

Yes. Add the visit in Scheduling and type the prospect's name. AveeCare warns that the visit will not reach billing or payroll until the person is admitted. Click Schedule anyway to keep them a prospect, or Admit and schedule to admit them first.

No. The reason box is optional and holds up to 300 characters. If you enter one, the record shows it as “Reason not proceeding.”

On hold pauses a lead. The prospect stays in Open and in the In Pipeline count. Not proceeding closes the lead. The prospect leaves Open, and you find them under Not proceeding. You can bring either one back by clicking a stage on the record.

You add them with New prospective patient. They also come from Make Prospect on a public website inquiry, from the Client application link under Referral links, and from Make prospect from this package on a one-time referral link. Old referrals can come in with Import them.

The pipeline now lists prospective patients, not separate referral rows. Declined and Lost became Not proceeding. New prospective patient replaces Add Referral. Referrals from the old pipeline can be brought in with Import them. Nothing in them is deleted.

Record the source on the prospect, either in the New prospective patient form or under Modify Patient, Referred by. The source counts the person as Referred. When the person becomes a client, the source counts them under Became clients.