What a small hospital needs from its software
A small hospital has the departments of a large one with a much smaller team. The OPD, wards, OT, lab, pharmacy and billing desk each keep their own registers, and the owner spends evenings matching them up.
- Information that crosses departments. A test ordered in the ward, a medicine given and a bed day all have to reach the bill without someone carrying slips.
- Insured and scheme patients. Bills need a payer share and a patient share, and claims have to be followed until they are settled.
- Leakage at the counter. Discounts, cancellations and refunds need limits and a record of who did what.
- Many roles, different access. Nurses, cashiers, lab technicians and pharmacists each need their own screens and nothing more.
- Figures for the owner. Daily collection, pending IPD bills and payer dues should be visible on the same day.
How Sehat Nxt fits
Patients start in the live OPD queue and are forwarded to IPD management when admitted. The bed board, doctor orders, medication chart, vitals schedule, OT stages and signed patient file all sit on the admission, and doctors and nurses can fill forms by voice.
Hospital billing collects charges from the OPD, IPD and lab on one visit. It handles price lists and tariff plans, packages, deposits, refunds, credit notes and every common payment mode. Payer and TPA cases are split into payer and patient shares, and claims are tracked through dispatch, acknowledgement and settlement. Discounts above a user's authority go to an approvals inbox, and finished days can be locked.
The laboratory receives orders from OPD and IPD, records results with verification, and prints reports with a QR share link. Pharmacy and inventory dispenses against the doctor's prescription and keeps stock by batch and expiry, with purchase orders and goods received notes.
Staff and roles gives each person a login with only their modules, and staff HR covers attendance, leave and payroll.
Start with, add later
| Stage | Modules | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Day one | Live OPD queue, EMR and digital prescription, IPD management, hospital billing | Patients, beds and bills on one record from the first admission |
| First month | Staff and roles, laboratory | Separate logins for each department and lab orders without re-entry |
| When the store is ready | Pharmacy and inventory | Dispensing, stock by batch and expiry, purchase and receipt |
| When you register with ABDM | ABDM and ABHA | ABHA at the desk and records linked with patient consent |
Getting started
- Book a demo with the owner and the heads of billing, nursing and the lab.
- Set up wards, rooms and beds, and load the price list and tariff plans.
- Add your payers and TPAs, and set discount limits for each billing user.
- Add doctors and staff by role and switch on only the modules each person needs.
- Set up the lab test catalogue and the pharmacy's locations, suppliers and current stock.
- Go live in the OPD first, then move admissions, the lab and the pharmacy across.
Plans start from ₹999 per month; for a custom quote, talk to us. Patient data is hosted on servers in India, and Sehat Nxt is ABDM M1, M2 & M3 Ready. To see one patient move from the OPD to the ward, the lab and the final bill, book a free demo.
Guides for small hospitals
Questions from small hospitals
Do we have to start every module on the same day?
No. Modules are switched on per hospital and per staff member, so most hospitals start with OPD, IPD and billing and add the lab and pharmacy afterwards.
Can the billing desk handle TPA and scheme patients?
Yes. A bill can be split between the payer and the patient, the payer share becomes a claim, and settlements and deductions are recorded. A report shows what each payer still owes.
How do we stop unapproved discounts?
Each billing user has an authority limit. A discount or rate change above that limit goes to an approvals inbox, and every change is recorded in an audit report.
Can lab and pharmacy staff have separate logins?
Yes. A lab login opens only the laboratory module, and pharmacy staff can be given access to the pharmacy module alone.