OPD Workflow

Overview

The OPD (Outpatient Department) workflow in NICE HMS covers the complete patient journey: registration at the front desk, token assignment, doctor consultation, digital prescription creation, and delivery via print or WhatsApp.

Step-by-Step OPD Workflow

1. Patient Arrival

The patient arrives at the reception desk. Two scenarios:

New patient (first visit):

• Register the patient via Patient > New Patient. See Adding New Patients.
• After registration, the system auto-redirects to the patient management page.

Returning patient:

• Find the patient using the search bar (enter ID) or Patient > Search | Edit | Archive Patient. See Accessing Old Patients.
• Click the patient ID to open the management page.

2. OPD Registration

On the patient management page:

1. Click New OPD Registration.
2. Fill in:
   • Doctor — Select the consulting doctor from the dropdown.
   • Department — The clinical department seeing the patient. It starts on General, so leave it if you do not track departments.
   • Validity — Set how many days this registration is valid (typically 1-7 days).
   • Date — Defaults to today.
3. Click Submit.

The system generates a token number (auto-incremented per doctor, per day, reset daily).

The department you pick is saved with the encounter and appears in the MIS beta reports — Month wise and Daily collection both show it and let you filter by it (see MIS Reports (Beta)). Leaving it on General is a valid choice: those visits are reported under General, not as missing. Encounters registered before departments were saved show as Not recorded.

3. Doctor Consultation

The doctor sees the patient in their My Patients > OPD tab:

1. Click the patient's name to open the encounter.
2. Review patient history (past visits, prescriptions, lab results).
3. Create a new prescription. See Creating Patient Prescription.

4. Prescription Delivery

After submitting the prescription:

• Print — Opens as PDF in a new browser tab. Print or save.
• WhatsApp — Sends the PDF to the patient's registered mobile number.

5. Investigation/Lab Orders (If Needed)

If the doctor orders investigations:

1. Select tests from the test menu within the prescription.
2. The order appears in the Lab module for sample collection.
3. Results are available in the patient record once entered.

6. Follow-Up

• The doctor sets a follow-up date in the prescription.
• When the patient returns after the validity period, create a new OPD registration.
• For returns within the validity period, the existing registration applies.

OPD Status Tracking

Each OPD encounter has a status:

Token Management

• Token numbers are per-doctor, per-day, starting from 1 each day.
• The token helps manage patient queue order.
• Receptionists can view the current queue from the OPD dashboard.

FAQ

Q: Can I register a patient for multiple doctors on the same day? A: Yes. Create separate OPD registrations — one for each consulting doctor.

Q: What happens when the registration validity expires? A: The patient needs a fresh OPD registration for their next visit. Previous registrations remain in the patient's history.

Q: Can a receptionist see which doctor has the shortest queue? A: The OPD dashboard shows active registrations per doctor, giving visibility into queue lengths.