66 terms
Hospital software glossary
A plain-English A–Z of the terms Indian hospital administrators, doctors, nurses and billing staff run into every day — compliance and billing acronyms, clinical workflow terms, and the software concepts behind a hospital system. Each term links to a full definition, why it matters, and how Trisvio handles it where that's genuinely the case.
A
- Accession NumberThe unique identifier given to a specimen when the laboratory receives it, distinct from the patient number and the order number.Read definition →
- ADT (Admission, Discharge, Transfer)The core inpatient workflow that tracks a patient being admitted, moved between beds/wards, and discharged.Read definition →
- Advance DepositMoney collected upfront, especially at admission, held against the patient's account and adjusted in the final bill.Read definition →
- ARPOB (Average Revenue Per Occupied Bed)A hospital finance metric: total inpatient revenue over a period, divided by occupied bed-days in that period.Read definition →
- Audit LogAn append-only record of who did what and when, covering both changes to data and, for sensitive records, reads of it.Read definition →
B
C
- Case MixThe composition of the patients a hospital treats — by condition, complexity and specialty — which drives cost, staffing and revenue per bed.Read definition →
- Cashless TreatmentTreatment where the insurer settles the hospital directly, so the patient pays only what is not covered.Read definition →
- Casualty / Emergency DepartmentThe 24×7 unit that receives acute, accident and trauma cases needing immediate assessment and stabilisation.Read definition →
- CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme)A government scheme providing healthcare to central-government employees and pensioners; hospitals may be empanelled at CGHS rates.Read definition →
- Chief ComplaintThe patient's main presenting problem, in their own words, that brought them to the hospital.Read definition →
- Co-PayThe fixed portion of an insured hospital bill the patient pays out of pocket, with the insurer covering the balance.Read definition →
- Concession / WaiverAn authorised reduction or waiver of hospital charges, such as a management, staff or charity concession on a bill.Read definition →
- ConsultationA doctor–patient encounter where the clinician takes history, examines, diagnoses and advises treatment.Read definition →
- Corporate / Credit BillingBilling an empanelled employer or organisation on credit for its employees' treatment, rather than charging the patient directly.Read definition →
- Cost EstimateA pre-treatment document giving the patient the projected cost of a planned procedure or admission before it begins.Read definition →
- Critical ValueA laboratory result so far outside the expected range that it needs telling to the clinician immediately, not just reporting.Read definition →
D
- Daily CensusThe count of inpatients present at a fixed time each day, plus admissions, discharges and transfers — the basis of every bed statistic.Read definition →
- Day Care ProcedureA procedure needing admission and a bed but not an overnight stay — admitted and discharged the same day.Read definition →
- Discharge SummaryThe clinical document given at discharge summarising diagnosis, treatment, investigations and follow-up advice.Read definition →
- DPDP Act, 2023India's law governing how organisations collect, use, store and share people's personal data, including patient data.Read definition →
- DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)How many days of credit revenue are tied up in unpaid bills — outstanding receivables divided by credit revenue, times the days in the period.Read definition →
E
- E-PrescriptionA prescription created and stored electronically rather than handwritten, printed for the patient and retained in their record.Read definition →
- EmpanelmentBeing accepted onto an insurer, TPA, corporate or government scheme panel, so their members can be treated on credit at agreed rates.Read definition →
- EMR vs EHRAn EMR is one organisation's clinical record of a patient; an EHR is a record designed to follow the patient across organisations.Read definition →
F
- FEFO (First-Expiry-First-Out)Dispensing the batch that expires soonest first, rather than the one received first, so stock is used before it can expire.Read definition →
- FHIRThe modern HL7 standard for health data exchange, built on web APIs and JSON — and, in India, the basis of ABDM data sharing.Read definition →
- Final BillThe consolidated bill produced at discharge covering all services, less advances and adjustments, showing the net payable.Read definition →
- Form F (PCPNDT)The statutory record every genetic clinic or ultrasound centre in India must complete for each pregnant woman examined.Read definition →
- Formulary (Drug Master)The hospital's approved list of medicines — each with its generic name, strength, form and pack — against which prescribing and stock are recorded.Read definition →
G
- GRN (Goods Receipt Note)The record made when stock physically arrives from a supplier, capturing batch, expiry, quantity, cost and tax for each line received.Read definition →
- GST in HealthcareIndia's GST largely exempts core healthcare services, but pharmacy sales, consumables and some non-clinical charges remain taxable.Read definition →
H
- HL7 v2The long-established messaging standard hospital systems and laboratory analysers use to exchange orders and results.Read definition →
- HMISHospital (or Health) Management Information System — in India the acronym usually means the government reporting portal, not the hospital’s own software.Read definition →
- HMS vs EMR vs HISThree overlapping labels: HMS runs the hospital as a business, EMR holds the clinical record, HIS is the older umbrella term for both.Read definition →
- Hospital ERPEnterprise resource planning applied to a hospital — finance, stores, HR and procurement, usually alongside rather than instead of an HMS.Read definition →
I
- ICD-10The World Health Organization's coded classification of diseases, used to record diagnoses in a form that can be counted and compared.Read definition →
- Incident ReportingThe recording of adverse events, near misses and unsafe conditions, so patterns can be seen and acted on rather than absorbed.Read definition →
- IndentAn internal request for stock — a ward asking the main pharmacy or store to issue items, distinct from purchasing from a supplier.Read definition →
- IPD (Inpatient Department)The department that manages admitted patients who occupy a bed and stay in the hospital overnight or longer.Read definition →
L
- Length of Stay (ALOS)The duration from admission to discharge for an inpatient; ALOS is the average length of stay across patients.Read definition →
- LIS (Laboratory Information System)The system that runs a laboratory's work — ordering, specimen tracking, result entry, verification, reporting and quality control.Read definition →
M
- MAR (Medication Administration Record)The inpatient record of every drug dose actually given — or held, missed or refused — with the time and the nurse who recorded it.Read definition →
- MCCD (Medical Certification of Cause of Death)The standard cause-of-death certification a hospital doctor completes on Form 4 (or 4A) for a death under medical attention.Read definition →
- MRD (Medical Records Department)The department that stores, indexes and retrieves patient case records and manages their retention and release.Read definition →
O
P
- Package BillingBilling a procedure or stay as a single bundled fixed price instead of itemising every individual charge.Read definition →
- PC&PNDT Act, 1994India's law regulating prenatal diagnostic techniques and prohibiting sex determination and sex selection.Read definition →
- Point-of-Care TestingTesting done beside the patient rather than in the laboratory — glucometers, rapid kits, bedside analysers.Read definition →
- Pre-AuthorisationThe insurer's or TPA's approval, obtained before planned treatment, confirming what they will cover and up to what amount.Read definition →
R
- RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)Granting permissions to roles rather than to individuals, so what someone can do follows from the job they hold.Read definition →
- Reference RangeThe band of values considered normal for an analyte, which varies by age and sex — and, for newborns, by age in days rather than years.Read definition →
- ReferralDirecting a patient to another doctor, specialist or facility for further evaluation or treatment.Read definition →
- Reflex TestingAn additional test the laboratory adds automatically when a first result meets a defined rule, without the clinician re-ordering it.Read definition →
- Reorder LevelThe stock quantity at which a fresh purchase should be raised, set from how fast an item moves and how long the supplier takes.Read definition →
- Revenue LeakageMoney a hospital earned but never collected — work done that was never billed, or billed and released without payment.Read definition →
S
T
- Tariff / Rate CardThe hospital's configured price list — the standard rates charged for each consultation, service, investigation and procedure.Read definition →
- TAT (Turnaround Time)The time from a laboratory test being ordered — or the sample collected — to the verified result being available to the clinician.Read definition →
- TPA (Third-Party Administrator)A Third-Party Administrator processes cashless and reimbursement health-insurance claims between the hospital, patient and insurer.Read definition →
- TriageSorting patients by urgency and severity so the sickest are seen first, especially in casualty and emergencies.Read definition →