Create a pipeline
Build a pipeline that matches your patient journey, add and reorder stages, and set the chart options.
3 min read
A pipeline is the ordered list of steps a patient goes through, from first contact to post-treatment follow-up. A well-built pipeline lets your coordinators answer "what should I do with this patient now?" just by looking at the board.
Before you start
- You need Admin permissions to create and edit pipelines. See Roles and permissions.
- Write your stages down on paper first. Each stage should be a moment when the patient has completed a step you can verify (e.g. "X-ray received", "deposit paid").
Ready-made example: a medical-tourism pipeline
These 8 stages are a good starting point for most dental, aesthetic and hair transplant clinics:
| # | Stage | When does the patient move here? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Lead | First enquiry arrives from a form, ad or WhatsApp. |
| 2 | Contacted | A coordinator has reached the patient and had a first conversation. |
| 3 | Photos/X-rays Received | The patient has sent photos, X-rays or a panoramic scan. |
| 4 | Treatment Plan Sent | A doctor-approved treatment plan and quote have been sent. |
| 5 | Deposit Paid | The patient has paid the deposit. |
| 6 | Travel Booked | Flights, hotel and transfer are confirmed. |
| 7 | Treated | The treatment or operation is complete. |
| 8 | Follow-up | Check-ups, review requests and referrals. |
Tip
Keep it to 6–9 stages. Too many stages and your team will stop updating the cards.
Create the pipeline
- Click Opportunities in the left menu.
- Switch to the Pipelines tab at the top.
- Click Create new pipeline in the top right.
- Enter a clear name in Pipeline name, e.g.
Patient Journey. - Use Add stage to add your stages one by one and name them. You can use the 8 stages from the table above.
- To change the order, grab the ⋮⋮ handle on the left of a row and drag it up or down.
- Use the Funnel chart and Pie chart checkboxes next to each stage to choose whether it appears in the funnel and pie charts in reports.
- Click Save. The pipeline now appears in the pipeline selector on the Opportunities screen.
Note
The funnel and pie chart options only affect reporting; the columns on the board are always visible. For example, leaving "Follow-up" out of the funnel chart makes your conversion rates more meaningful.
You can also manage pipelines from Settings → Opportunities & Pipelines. See Pipeline settings.
Editing stages later
Open the edit window from the ⋯ menu on the pipeline's row:
- Renaming a stage: opportunities aren't affected; they simply show the new name.
- Adding a stage: the new column starts empty.
- Deleting a stage: move the cards to another stage before deleting a stage that contains opportunities.
Heads up
Deleting a stage that still contains opportunities can break how those opportunities are tracked. Empty the column first and let your team know.
When do you need more than one pipeline?
One pipeline is enough for most clinics. Consider a separate pipeline when:
- The process is genuinely different: hair transplants need photos rather than X-rays; bariatric surgery needs blood tests and a BMI assessment.
- Different teams work on it: your German-speaking and Arabic-speaking teams may prefer separate boards.
- Aftercare is long: you can run check-ups and review collection in a separate "Aftercare" pipeline.
For a detailed patient journey design, see Patient journey pipeline.
Troubleshooting
I can't see the Create new pipeline button. Your user role may not allow editing pipelines. Ask your account admin for access.
The stage order didn't change on the board. Make sure you clicked Save after reordering, then refresh the page.
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