The easiest way to work around that in my opinion is to do just what you said. Make a new visit, BUT no bill and the Chief Complaint should help you skip the visit when you are scanning the prior visits.
I use the following templated statements:
"As a Consequence of Labs"
"This entry will record the following telephone call"
"As we leave the room the patient relates:"
"This entry is for the consolidation of medical records"
I guess these are self explanatory, but the point is, these are all used to cover the time that an entry needs to be a part of the permanent record, but no bill (or no second bill) will be generated. Also when you look at "Prior Encounters" you don't need to pour over the note to figure out that it is just an addition to a note that was already signed, or it is the orders to respond to abnormal labs.
