Bring your caseload into SideClick

What the importer does — and doesn't

SideClick imports two things from CSV files: your patient list (demographics, contact details, an emergency contact and an address) and your historical session notes (visit date plus the note text, per patient). That covers what a clinician actually needs on day one: the caseload, and the history behind it.

Appointments, invoices and other structured records don't import — future bookings are quick to recreate, and imported financials are an audit problem, not a convenience. Prior PDFs and scanned documents still attach to each patient's chart as documents, exactly as before. And leaving stays as easy as arriving: export and backup work in every licence state.

Step 1 — export from your current system

Every practice system can produce a client list, and most can export notes — look for "export", "reports" or "data extract" in its admin area, and ask its support for a CSV or spreadsheet export if you can't find one. You are legally entitled to your records; take the export before you cancel, while your login still works.

Step 2 — fill the templates

Open the templates in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets, paste your exported data column by column, and save as "CSV UTF-8". The samples show exactly what a finished file looks like. The rules that matter:

• Dates are strictly YYYY-MM-DD (for example 1990-04-12) — ambiguous day/month formats are rejected rather than guessed.
• Patients need given_name and family_name; everything else is optional.
• Note rows name their patient by patient_mrn, or by patient_given_name + patient_family_name (+ patient_dob when names repeat).
• Note content goes in note_text, or split across the subjective/objective/assessment/plan columns; the framework column accepts SOAP, DAP, NDIS or GIRP.
• Keep source_row_id if your old system provides record ids — it makes re-runs and support questions precise.

Step 3 — import, with a preview first

In the desktop app, go to Settings → Import data, name the system you're leaving, and choose your file. Nothing is written yet: the preview lists every row with a problem (and why), flags rows that look like patients you already have, and lets you decide whether duplicates are skipped or imported before you commit.

Import patients first, then session notes — note rows are matched against the caseload. If the import is interrupted, or you run the same file twice, already-imported rows are skipped automatically: re-running is always safe.

Imported notes are sealed history

Each imported note becomes a completed session with a read-only note marked "Imported from …" — it appears in the patient's timeline like any signed note, but it can never be edited, signed or amended, because a migrated record is historical fact, not a draft. New clinical work starts clean in SideClick's structured notes, encrypted and synced like everything else.