Charges, price lists and invoices

How NduMed captures charges automatically, how to maintain the price list, generate an invoice with discounts and HMO cover, and get large discounts approved.

NduMed adds charges to a patient’s bill automatically as care is delivered. A cashier then turns the bill for an encounter into an invoice, applying any discount and HMO cover, and takes payment.

How charges are captured

There is no manual charge entry. Charges are posted by these events:

Event	Charge	Price comes from
OPD or ER encounter opened	Consultation	Price list item CONSULT-GP
Lab test ordered	The test	Lab test catalogue price
Drug dispensed	Unit price x quantity	Formulary unit price
Each completed inpatient day	Bed day	Bed’s daily rate

If there is no price for a charge, it is marked Needs pricing. An invoice cannot be generated while any charge on the bill needs pricing. Add the missing price, then try again.

The price list (administrators)

Open Billing in the Billing section of the menu.

• Add a chargeable item: Code, Name, Category (Registration, Consultation, Procedure, Laboratory, Pharmacy, Imaging, Ward or Other), Amount and Effective from.
• Edit / change price: prices are effective-dated; Price history shows every change.
• Deactivate an item you no longer charge.
• Import CSV with columns code,name,category,amount. The whole file is applied or nothing is; imported prices take effect today.

New hospitals start with items such as REGISTRATION, CONSULT-GP, CONSULT-SPEC, DRESSING and INJECTION but no prices. Set at least the CONSULT-GP price before the first consultation, or every outpatient bill will need pricing.

View the bill

The bill for an encounter lists its Captured charges and has a Generate invoice button. You reach it from the encounter’s invoice pages, or at /encounters/<encounter number>/bill on your hospital’s address.

Generate an invoice

1. Select Generate invoice

   The form shows the hospital’s Tax rate and the discount level above which approval is needed.

2. Apply a discount (optional)

   Enter Discount % (0 to 100) and a Discount reason. The reason is required whenever there is a discount.

3. Choose the payer

   Leave Payer (HMO) as self-pay, or choose the patient’s HMO and Package. See HMOs and claims.

4. Generate

   The invoice is Issued with the next invoice number (for example INV-000123), or waits for approval if the discount is above the threshold.

Discount approval

A discount above the approval threshold (10% by default) puts the invoice in Pending approval. Someone else with approval rights (Administrators by default) opens Discount approvals, and either:

• Approves it: the invoice is issued and gets its number; or
• Rejects it: the invoice is voided. Generate a new one with an acceptable discount.

You cannot approve your own discount.

Invoice statuses

Status	Meaning
Pending approval	Discount waiting for a second person
Issued	Final; can take payments
Void	Rejected; cannot take payments

Invoice numbers have no gaps and are assigned at the moment of issue. Open an invoice to view it or Print it; reprints are marked DUPLICATE.

The tax rate (0% by default) and the discount approval threshold (10% by default) are set when your hospital is set up. To change them, contact NduMed support.