Hospital management glossary: OPD, IPD, TPA, ALOS and more
This glossary explains the terms Indian doctors, hospital owners and administrators meet when they run an OPD, admit patients, bill insurers or connect to ABDM. Each entry starts with a plain answer, then adds the detail that matters in daily work, such as how a figure is calculated or which body runs a scheme. Where Sehat Nxt has a page on the topic, the entry links to it so you can see how the software handles it.
A
- ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission)
- ABDM is the Government of India's mission to build a national digital health system, run by the National Health Authority (NHA). It gives patients an ABHA, registers facilities (HFR) and professionals (HPR), and lets health records move between providers only with the patient's consent. Software is checked against milestones: M1 for ABHA, M2 for sharing records as a provider and M3 for requesting records.ABDM & ABHA in Sehat Nxt
- ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account)
- ABHA is a patient's 14-digit health ID under ABDM, with an easy-to-remember ABHA address. Hospitals create or verify it at registration and link it to their own patient record, so prescriptions, reports and discharge records can be shared with other facilities when the patient consents through their ABHA app.ABHA creation and linking
- ALOS (Average Length of Stay)
- ALOS is the average number of days an admitted patient stays in hospital. It is calculated as total inpatient bed-days in a period divided by the number of discharges (including deaths) in that period. A falling ALOS for the same case mix usually means faster work-up and discharge; a rising one can point to delays in tests, approvals or discharge paperwork.Bed occupancy calculator
B
- Bed occupancy rate (BOR) (Share of available beds that were occupied)
- Bed occupancy rate is the percentage of available beds that were in use over a period: occupied bed-days divided by available bed-days, multiplied by 100. It is the most watched IPD figure for capacity planning. Very high occupancy leaves no room for emergencies, while low occupancy means beds and staff are under-used.Calculate your bed occupancy
- Bed turnover rate (Discharges per bed in a period)
- Bed turnover rate is the number of patients who used each bed during a period, calculated as total discharges (including deaths) divided by the average number of available beds. Read it together with bed occupancy and ALOS: a high turnover with steady occupancy means each bed is serving more patients through shorter stays.Bed occupancy calculator
C
- Cashless claim (Insurer pays the hospital directly)
- A cashless claim is one where the insurer or scheme settles the hospital bill directly, so the insured patient pays only what the policy does not cover. The hospital sends a pre-authorisation request, then a final bill at discharge. Under IRDAI's 2024 health insurance master circular, insurers must decide on cashless requests within one hour and on final discharge authorisation within three hours.PM-JAY, TPA and insurance claims guide
- CGHS (Central Government Health Scheme)
- CGHS is the health scheme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for central government employees, pensioners and their dependants. Beneficiaries are treated at CGHS wellness centres and at empanelled private hospitals, which charge at CGHS rates and claim payment under the scheme rules. Hospitals track CGHS patients as a separate payer in billing.Hospital billing with payers
D
- Daily census (Count of admitted patients for the day)
- The daily census is the count of inpatients in the hospital on a given day, usually taken at a fixed hour, together with that day's admissions, discharges, transfers and deaths. It is the raw input for bed occupancy, ALOS and nursing staffing. Sehat Nxt produces daily census and bed occupancy reports from IPD admissions.IPD management
- Day care (Treatment completed in under 24 hours)
- Day care treatment is a procedure or treatment done under general or local anaesthesia in a hospital or day care centre in less than 24 hours because of advances in technology, which would otherwise have needed a longer admission. Health insurance policies in India cover listed day care procedures, such as cataract surgery or chemotherapy, even though the stay is shorter than 24 hours.
- Discharge summary (Record given to the patient at discharge)
- A discharge summary is the document that closes an admission: diagnosis, key findings, procedures done, treatment given, condition at discharge, medicines and follow-up advice. The patient takes it home, insurers and TPAs need it for claims, and NABH assessors check that it is complete. In Sehat Nxt it is completed at discharge and kept with the admission record.IPD management
- DPDP Act (Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023)
- The DPDP Act is India's law on digital personal data, with the DPDP Rules notified in November 2025. A hospital that decides why and how patient data is processed is a Data Fiduciary: it must give clear notice, take valid consent or rely on a permitted ground, keep the data secure, report breaches and let people exercise their rights. Its software provider acts as a Data Processor.Sehat Nxt privacy policy
E
- ECHS (Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme)
- ECHS is the Ministry of Defence health scheme for ex-servicemen and their dependants. Members are treated at ECHS polyclinics and referred to empanelled hospitals, which bill the scheme at agreed rates. For the hospital it works like other payer cases: referral and approval details, rate-based billing and a claim followed until it is paid.Hospital billing with payers
- EHR (Electronic Health Record)
- An EHR is a patient's health record that can be shared across hospitals, clinics and labs, built from the records each of them keeps. In India the ABDM network plays this role: records stay with each facility and are linked to the patient's ABHA, then shared with another provider only when the patient consents. An EMR is one facility's record; an EHR spans many.HMS vs clinic software vs EMR
- EMR (Electronic Medical Record)
- An EMR is the digital record of a patient kept by one clinic or hospital: registration details, visits, vitals, diagnoses, prescriptions, reports and notes. It replaces paper files within that facility. In Sehat Nxt the EMR is the patient registry with a UHID, typed or handwritten prescriptions printed on the hospital's letterhead, and past visits visible when the patient returns.EMR & digital prescription
G
- GRN (Goods Received Note)
- A GRN is the record made when stock ordered from a supplier arrives at the pharmacy or store. It notes the items, quantities, batch numbers, expiry dates and rates received against the purchase order, and adds them to stock. Accurate GRNs keep batch-wise expiry tracking and supplier payments correct. Sehat Nxt pharmacy handles purchase orders, GRN, returns and transfers.Pharmacy & inventory
H
- HFR (Health Facility Registry)
- HFR is the ABDM registry of health facilities in India, both public and private: hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies and more. Each registered facility gets an HFR ID. A facility needs to be on HFR to take part in the ABDM network, for example to link records to patients' ABHA and share them with consent.ABDM guide for hospitals and clinics
- HIS (Hospital Information System)
- HIS is the software that holds a hospital's clinical, administrative and financial information: registration, OPD, IPD, orders, results, billing and reports. In India the term is used almost interchangeably with HMS. Some writers use HIS for the information side and HMS for day-to-day operations, but most products, including Sehat Nxt, cover both.What is a hospital management system?
- HMIS (Health Management Information System)
- HMIS has two common meanings in India. It is the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's web portal where public health facilities report monthly service data. Private vendors also use HMIS to mean hospital management information system software. When a tender or form says HMIS, check which one it means.What is a hospital management system?
- HMS (Hospital Management System)
- An HMS is software that runs a hospital or clinic in one place: OPD queue and appointments, consultations and prescriptions, IPD and beds, billing, laboratory, pharmacy and reports, with logins by staff role. Sehat Nxt HMS adds a live OPD queue patients can track on their phone, ABDM features and a dashboard for owners of several branches.What is a hospital management system?
- Hospital ERP (Enterprise resource planning for hospitals)
- Hospital ERP is software that covers the business side of a hospital, such as finance and accounts, purchase, inventory, HR and payroll, often alongside the clinical HMS. Smaller hospitals usually need an HMS with billing, inventory and staff management; large groups may run a separate ERP for accounting and supply chain and connect it to the HMS.Small hospitals
- HPR (Healthcare Professionals Registry)
- HPR is the ABDM registry of healthcare professionals in India, including doctors, nurses and other practitioners from modern and traditional systems of medicine. Each verified professional gets an HPR ID. It lets patients and facilities confirm a professional's registration and links professionals to the facilities where they work.ABDM guide for hospitals and clinics
I
- ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision)
- ICD-10 is the World Health Organization's coding system for diseases and causes of death. Hospitals in India use it to code diagnoses on discharge records, death certificates and insurance claims, and for morbidity reports. WHO has since released ICD-11, but ICD-10 remains widely used in Indian hospitals and claim forms.
- IPD (Inpatient Department)
- IPD is the part of a hospital that cares for admitted patients: admission, ward and bed allotment, doctor orders, medication charts, nursing notes, OT and discharge. IPD software tracks every bed and builds the admission's file and bill as care is given. Sehat Nxt covers admissions, beds, OT stages, signed patient files and discharge.IPD management
L
- LIMS / LIS (Laboratory Information Management System / Laboratory Information System)
- A LIS or LIMS is software that runs a pathology lab: test orders, sample collection and barcodes, result entry, verification by the pathologist and report delivery. LIMS is often used for larger labs with more sample and quality tracking. Sehat Nxt laboratory handles orders, sample collection, result entry and verification, and reports with a QR share link.Laboratory
- Live OPD tracking (Patients follow the queue on their phone)
- Live OPD tracking lets patients see the token now in the doctor's room, how many patients are ahead of them and an expected wait, updated as the queue moves. Patients can arrive close to their turn instead of waiting in a crowded hall. Sehat Nxt offers India's First Live OPD Tracking as part of its HMS.Live OPD queue
- LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes)
- LOINC is an international code set for laboratory tests and clinical observations, maintained by the Regenstrief Institute. Giving each test a LOINC code means a haemoglobin result means the same thing in any system, which matters when records are exchanged. India's EHR Standards list LOINC for lab and clinical observations.
M
- MAR (Medication Administration Record)
- A MAR is the chart on which nurses record each dose given to an admitted patient: drug, dose, route, time and who gave it, against the doctor's orders. It prevents missed and double doses and is a key record in NABH medication management. In Sehat Nxt IPD, doctor orders and the medication chart are part of each admission's file.IPD management
- MRD (Medical Records Department)
- The MRD is the hospital department that keeps, codes and retrieves patient records, especially inpatient case files after discharge. It checks files for completeness, answers record requests from patients, insurers and courts, and keeps records for the required retention period. Digital records reduce the MRD's search and storage work but not its duty to keep records complete.NABH documentation guide
N
- NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers)
- NABH is the board of the Quality Council of India that accredits hospitals and other healthcare providers against published quality standards. The current hospital standards are the 6th edition, in force from January 2025. Much of what assessors check is documentation, such as consents, medical records and quality indicators. Software can make these records easier to keep but cannot grant accreditation.NABH documentation guide
- NHCX (National Health Claims Exchange)
- NHCX is a digital exchange built by the National Health Authority with IRDAI for health insurance claims. Hospitals, insurers and TPAs use it to send coverage checks, pre-authorisation requests, claims and status updates in a standard format based on FHIR, instead of using a different portal for each insurer.PM-JAY, TPA and insurance claims guide
O
- OPD (Outpatient Department)
- OPD is where patients see a doctor without being admitted: registration, a token or appointment, vitals, consultation, prescription and tests. In most Indian hospitals the OPD is the busiest area and the first impression for patients. OPD software manages the queue, the consultation record and the bill for each visit.OPD queue management guide
- OT (Operation Theatre)
- The OT is where surgeries are performed. OT management covers scheduling the theatre and surgeon, pre-operative checks and consent, anaesthesia and surgery notes, and post-operative care, with the charges flowing to the patient's bill. In Sehat Nxt IPD, each surgery moves through OT stages, each with its own documents.IPD management
P
- PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System)
- PACS is the system that stores and displays medical images such as X-ray, CT, MRI and ultrasound, usually in the DICOM format, and lets radiologists and doctors view them on screen instead of film. It works alongside a RIS, which manages the orders, scheduling and reports around those images.Radiology
- PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana)
- PM-JAY is the Government of India's health assurance scheme, run by the National Health Authority with state health agencies. It gives eligible families cashless cover of up to ₹5 lakh per year for secondary and tertiary hospital care at empanelled hospitals. Claims are filed on the scheme's own IT system; the hospital's software keeps the hospital-side records complete.PM-JAY, TPA and insurance claims guide
R
- Reimbursement claim (Patient pays, then claims from the insurer)
- In a reimbursement claim, the patient pays the hospital bill and then claims the money back from the insurer. It is used when the hospital is not in the insurer's network or cashless was not approved. The hospital supports the claim by giving complete documents: itemised bill, receipts, discharge summary, reports and prescriptions.Hospital billing
- RIS (Radiology Information System)
- A RIS manages the workflow of a radiology department: imaging orders, scheduling, patient tracking, the radiologist's report and billing. It handles the text and workflow, while a PACS stores the images themselves. In a hospital, the RIS receives orders from OPD and IPD doctors and returns reports to the patient's record.Radiology
S
T
- Teleconsultation (Doctor consultation by video, audio or chat)
- Teleconsultation is a consultation in which the doctor and patient are not in the same place and talk by video, audio or chat. In India it is governed by the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines 2020 issued with MoHFW. Sehat Nxt offers online video slots, booking from the patient app, a browser video room and prescriptions after the call.Teleconsultation
- Token system (Numbered queue for OPD patients)
- A token system gives each OPD patient a number that sets their place in the doctor's queue. Booked and walk-in patients share one order, and the token on display tells everyone who is next. A digital token system also records arrival, consultation and no-shows, and can show patients their live position and expected wait.Live OPD queue
- TPA (Third Party Administrator)
- A TPA is a company licensed by IRDAI that handles health insurance claims on behalf of insurers: cashless approvals, claim processing and hospital network management. For the hospital, the TPA is often the first contact for pre-authorisation and final bill approval. Sehat Nxt billing records payer and TPA cases on the patient's bill.Hospital billing
- Turnover interval (Average days a bed stays empty between patients)
- Turnover interval is the average time a bed stays empty between one patient leaving and the next being admitted. It is calculated as available bed-days minus occupied bed-days, divided by the number of discharges (including deaths). A long interval means beds sit idle; a negative or near-zero one points to overcrowding.Bed occupancy calculator
U
- UHID (Unique Health Identification number)
- A UHID is the number a hospital gives each patient at first registration and uses for every later visit, admission, test and bill. It keeps one patient's records together and avoids duplicate files. The UHID is the hospital's own ID; it is different from ABHA, which is national, and the two can be linked.EMR & digital prescription
W
- Walk-in (Patient who comes without an appointment)
- A walk-in is a patient who comes to the OPD without a prior appointment. In Indian clinics walk-ins are often most of the day's patients, so the queue must mix them fairly with booked patients. A good OPD system adds a walk-in token in seconds and shows everyone a realistic wait.OPD wait time calculator
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