What the Patient File Transfer Actually Bundles—and What Stays Behind

Multi-location chiropractic groups, mergers, and patients switching between affiliated offices all hit the same wall: how do you move one patient's file from one ChiroTouch database to another? The Patient File Transfer feature on the Front Desk's Patient Information screen handles exactly that. You select a single patient, choose which data categories to include, and ChiroTouch assembles everything into a self-contained folder on your server. That folder can then be shipped—via secure file transfer, external media, or however your IT team prefers—to the receiving office, where it is imported into their local ChiroTouch database. The whole process is one patient per export action, so if you are migrating a full caseload, plan for a series of transfers rather than a single batch operation.

Understanding what travels and what does not is the first thing your office manager or DC should confirm before initiating a transfer. The bundle includes the patient's demographic information as it appears in Front Desk, their patient notes, treatment notes, and any attached patient records such as X-ray images, photos, videos, and documents stored in the Records screen. What it does not include is equally important to flag in advance: chart notes, diagnosis entries, charge and ledger data, insurance information, and the full appointment history all remain in the source database. If the receiving office needs billing continuity or the complete treatment timeline, those elements must be handled through a separate data-mapping conversation between the two practices before you start clicking buttons.

Setting Up the Export Side

The Patient File Transfer button does not appear by default. Before anyone can click Export, ChiroTouch technical support must enable the button on your installation and designate a local destination folder where the patient-file bundle will be written—typically something like C:\Program Files (x86)\PSChiro\Database\Patient_File_Transfer. Once that configuration is in place, the workflow is straightforward: open the patient's record in Front Desk, click Patient File Transfer, choose Export, tick at least one data-category checkbox (the system will not proceed with zero selections), and confirm. When the transfer completes, an alerts dialog displays a report that includes your practice's License ID and a one-time password. Those two credentials are the keys the receiving office will need to unlock and import the file, so treat them like a temporary access token and transmit them through a secure channel rather than plain email.

On the receiving end, the setup mirrors the sending side: the destination server must have the same file-transfer folder configured by their ChiroTouch support team, and the patient's directory (named after your License ID) must be placed in that folder before the import can run. The receiving office then opens Patient File Transfer in their own Front Desk, selects Import, enters the credentials you provided, and triggers the import. A confirmation screen shows the results. One practical note: the export report itself can be saved as a PDF, an Excel spreadsheet, or a Rich Text document, and you can attach it to an email for your records. Keep a copy for both offices. It documents exactly which data categories crossed the wire, which is useful if a question about missing information surfaces weeks later.

A few operational tips drawn from practices that run this regularly. First, verify with the receiving office that their ChiroTouch version and folder structure are ready before you generate the bundle; a mismatch on their end means the import will stall and you will have to re-run the export. Second, because insurance and billing data do not transfer, coordinate with both billing teams so the patient's next claim is not interrupted. Third, if your practice stores a large volume of imaging or video files in the patient's Records folder, test the export with the heaviest patient first to confirm the bundle size and transfer time fit within your network's bandwidth window. Finally, log the date, the patient identifier (not the full name, per your internal privacy policy), and the receiving office in a simple spreadsheet. When you are moving twenty or thirty patients across a merger, that log becomes the only way to reconcile what has and has not been received without calling each office individually.

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