Beds, Users & Plan Limits

Overview

Your subscription is described by a single number: users (maxUser). Beds are never stored separately — they are always derived from users at a fixed ratio of 1 user = 2.5 beds. This means:

20 users = 50 beds
40 users = 100 beds

There are two limits that grow out of this number, and they behave differently depending on your plan size.

The two limits

Limit	What it controls	When it applies
User limit	How many users (and visitors) you can create	Only below 20 users / 50 beds
Bed rule	How many in-progress inpatient beds you can occupy at once	Always, on every plan

Below 20 users / 50 beds

For organizations below the 20-user / 50-bed boundary, both limits apply:

Non-visitor roles are capped at your purchased user count (maxUser). Nurses are added under the Visitor role, which has a larger allowance of users × 2.5 — so your total active users (regular + nurses) can reach maxUser × 2.5, with only maxUser of them being non-nurse roles. Inactive users don't count.
You can occupy up to your purchased beds (users × 2.5), plus a safety buffer of 50% for in-progress lag (a patient being discharged or a summary being finalized).

If you need more users or beds, upgrade your plan or add extra users.

At 20 users / 50 beds and above

At the 20-user / 50-bed boundary the user limit is lifted:

You can create unlimited users, including visitors — there is no user cap.
The bed rule still applies. Your bed allowance continues to be users × 2.5 plus the 50% buffer, and in-progress inpatient encounters are capped against that allowance.

In practice this means a large organization pays per bed (by setting its user count), but is no longer blocked from adding staff.

The bed rule in detail

When you admit a patient to an inpatient bed (Encounter with class IMP and status in-progress), NICE HMS checks the total in-progress inpatient count against your allowance:

allowance = ceil( maxUser × 2.5 × 1.5 )

The 1.5 is a configurable buffer that gives you 50% headroom for discharge summaries and in-progress lag. If the in-progress count would exceed this allowance, the admission is blocked with a message asking you to discharge finished encounters or purchase additional beds.

The bed rule applies on all plans. The only exception is a manual exemption (bedCountRule = false) which is honored only below 20 users; at 20+ users it is ignored.

Downsizing your plan

When you renew and reduce your user count, NICE HMS checks that the smaller plan is still valid:

Tier boundary — an organization already at or above 20 users / 50 beds cannot downsize below that boundary. The move from unlimited users back to a capped plan is not allowed.
Active users — a smaller organization (≤ 20 active users) cannot shrink its plan below its current active-user count. Inactivate unwanted users first, or increase the user count to match.
In-progress beds — the new plan must still fit your current in-progress inpatient beds (ceil(users × 2.5 × 1.5)). If it doesn't, finish/discharge in-progress encounters first.

Where to see your limits

Public pricing page (/pricing) — shows the users↔beds relationship and the two-limit policy.
Reseller buy form — shows a live "Total: N users / X beds" line that flips to "no user limit" at 20+ users.
Reseller → My Organizations — a "Limit" column shows either "Unlimited users (50+ beds)" or "N users / N × 2.5 beds".

FAQ

Q: How are beds calculated from users? A: beds = users × 2.5. There is no separate bed field — beds are always derived from your user count.

Q: What happens at exactly 20 users / 50 beds? A: Your user limit is lifted (unlimited users and visitors), but the bed rule still applies at ceil(20 × 2.5 × 1.5) = 75 in-progress beds.

Q: Can a large organization downsize below 50 beds? A: No. An organization at or above 20 users / 50 beds cannot cross back below that boundary.

Q: Does the bed rule apply to outpatients? A: The bed rule keys off in-progress inpatient (IMP) encounters. Outpatient (OPD) visits are not bed-limited.