Concept explainer
Services
Explains how clinical and support services are defined, and how they receive orders, provide care and appear in billing.
A service is a clinical or support function that a site provides, such as cardiology, the laboratory or housekeeping. This page explains how services are defined, and how they receive orders, provide care and appear in billing.
What a service is
A service is a function a site provides, held once in the hospital model with its own name, kind and place. Services fall into two families: those that provide direct patient care, and those that keep the site running.
name string Required | The name staff know the service by. |
kind string Required | Clinical or support. |
site reference Required | The site the service belongs to. |
chargeItem reference | The charge master item raised when the service is billed. |
Clinical services
A clinical service provides direct patient care and receives clinical orders, such as cardiology, radiology, the laboratory or the pharmacy.
Support services
A support service keeps the site running around clinical care, such as housekeeping, transport or catering.
| Kind | Examples | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical service | Cardiology, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy | Provides direct patient care and fulfils clinical orders. |
| Support service | Housekeeping, transport, catering | Keeps the site running around clinical care. |
Receiving orders
A clinician places an order in Forge, and it routes to the service that fulfils it.
A laboratory test reaches the laboratory service, and an imaging study reaches radiology. The service performs the work and returns the result to the patient's record.
See what a clinician can raise at what can be ordered.
Appearing in billing
A chargeable service raises a charge when its order is placed or its care is given.
The charge carries the service that provided the care, so a bill reads back to the service behind each line. A service links to its item in the charge master, which sets what is charged and how it is described. Read how a charge is created.
People and assets
Staff belong to services, and physical assets link to the services that use them.
A cardiology service gathers its clinicians and the equipment they use, so the model shows who and what stands behind a piece of care. Read about people and roles and physical assets.
Common questions
Is a service the same as a unit?
A unit is a place within a site, while a service is a function it provides. A radiology service can run across more than one location.
How does a service get paid for its work?
A chargeable service links to a charge master item, and a charge is raised when its order is placed or its care is given.
Do support services appear in the record?
Support services keep the site running around care. Their work shows in operational records rather than in a patient's clinical record.
Read how physical assets are recorded and linked to the services that use them.