Pharmacy Billing

Overview

Pharmacy in NICE HMS is an accounting channel within the Accounts module, not a standalone module with its own pages. There is no dedicated "Pharmacy" sidebar menu — pharmacy users access everything through Accounts.

Pharmacy transactions use the same forms as other billing workflows (invoice, purchase, debit note, credit note) but with pharmacy-specific voucher types, print headers, and the accountHeaderPharmacyUrl letterhead. The pharmacist role is restricted to pharmacy voucher types only.

Enabling Pharmacy Billing

Before using pharmacy billing, enable it in organization settings:

Admin → Organization → Settings
Toggle Pharmacy Billing to ON.
This creates a PHARMACY ledger account for the organization.

The pharmacy toggle is at the organization level. Once enabled, the Pharmacy card appears on the Accounts landing page (/admin/accounts) with two links: Purchase and Debit Note.

Pharmacy Items

Pharmacy items (medicines, consumables) are created through Item Management (Accounts → Masters → Items), not through a separate pharmacy inventory page. See Item Management for the full item creation form.

Key configuration for pharmacy items:

Setting	Value
Category	Pharmacy
Sub Category	Pharmacy
Purchasable	TRUE (can be bought from vendors)
Saleable	TRUE (can be sold to patients)

Batch Tracking

Medicines can be tracked by batch through the batchMaster table. Each batch record stores:

Field	Description
Batch	Batch number
Expiry Date	Expiration date
Manufacturing Date	Date of manufacture
Item	Linked item ID

Batch tracking applies to all inventory items, not just pharmacy. During purchase entry, batch details are recorded so that stock is tracked per batch.

Pharmacy Voucher Types

Four voucher types handle pharmacy transactions. They use the same UI components as their non-pharmacy counterparts but are routed through pharmacy-specific APIs and print with pharmacy headers:

Voucher Type	Purpose	Counterpart
INVOICE_P	Sale of medicines to a patient	INVOICE
CREDIT_NOTE_P	Return/refund for pharmacy sale	CREDIT_NOTE
PURCHASE_P	Purchase of stock from a vendor	PURCHASE
DEBIT_NOTE_P	Return of stock to a vendor	DEBIT_NOTE

Access

Transaction	Access Path
Patient sale (invoice)	Accounts → Pharmacy → use the general Invoice link with `vouchertype=INVOICE_P`
Vendor purchase	Accounts → Pharmacy → Purchase (`/admin/accounts/bill/create?vouchertype=PURCHASE_P`)
Purchase return	Accounts → Pharmacy → Debit Note (`/admin/accounts/bill/create?vouchertype=DEBIT_NOTE_P`)

Form Fields

The purchase and invoice forms are the same as the generic bill and invoice forms (see Bill Transaction and Purchase). The voucher type parameter determines:

Which API endpoint handles the transaction
Which accounts (Dr/Cr) are available
Which letterhead appears on the printed document

Pharmacist Role Restrictions

The pharmacist role can only create pharmacy-tagged vouchers. The create-purchase API rejects pharmacists for non-pharmacy purchase types:

if (user.role == "pharmacist" && type != "PURCHASE_P" && type != "DEBIT_NOTE_P") {
  throw new Error("forbidden");
}

Similarly, the create-invoice API restricts pharmacists to INVOICE_P and CREDIT_NOTE_P types only.

Stock Tracking

Stock levels for pharmacy items are tracked through the shared stock system alongside hospital-category items. The stock is calculated from purchase and invoice voucher quantities.

Current Stock Report

Sidebar → MIS Reports → Stock → Current (/admin/mis-reports/stock/current/0?category=Pharmacy)

Filter by category=Pharmacy to view only pharmacy items. The report shows current stock levels per item with batch-wise breakdown.

Expiry Tracking

The batchMaster table stores expiry dates per batch. An expiryStock() function queries batches approaching expiry, but there is no dedicated expiry alerts page — use the batch master data to identify items nearing expiration.

Physical Stock Adjustment

Use Physical Stock vouchers (PHYSICAL_POSITIVE / PHYSICAL_NEGATIVE types) to adjust stock levels for physical verification corrections, wastage, or damage. This is a shared inventory feature, not pharmacy-specific.

Printing

Pharmacy vouchers automatically use the pharmacy-specific letterhead:

Printed headings show: INVOICE (Pharmacy), CREDIT NOTE (Pharmacy), PURCHASE (Pharmacy), or DEBIT NOTE (Pharmacy)
The letterhead image uses accountHeaderPharmacyUrl from organization uploads (see Printing and Letter Pad Header)

The invoice component detects the _P suffix in the voucher type and switches to the pharmacy header automatically.

FAQ

Q: Where do I find the pharmacy menu? A: There is no separate pharmacy menu. Go to Sidebar → Accounts. If pharmacy billing is enabled in organization settings, a Pharmacy card appears with Purchase and Debit Note links. For patient sales, use the general Invoice link with a pharmacy item.

Q: How do I add new medicines to the pharmacy? A: Use Accounts → Masters → Items (see Item Management). Set the category to "Pharmacy" and mark it as purchasable and saleable.

Q: Can I track medicine expiry dates? A: Yes. Batch tracking records manufacturing and expiry dates for each batch of medicine. Use the batch master data to identify items approaching expiry.

Q: What can a pharmacist user do? A: A user with the pharmacist role can create and edit pharmacy vouchers (INVOICE_P, CREDIT_NOTE_P, PURCHASE_P, DEBIT_NOTE_P), create receipts/payments, and view MIS reports. They cannot create non-pharmacy transactions.

Q: Does pharmacy billing work differently from regular billing? A: The forms are identical. The difference is the voucher type suffix (_P), which routes through pharmacy-specific accounting and uses the pharmacy letterhead for printed documents.

Q: How do I dispense medicines against a prescription? A: There is no dedicated dispensing interface. Create a pharmacy invoice (INVOICE_P) for the patient with the prescribed medicines as line items. Stock is reduced automatically when the invoice is saved.

Q: Is there integration with the ABDM Drug Registry? A: Not currently. A medication resolver integration is planned but not yet implemented.