Data model

The order lifecycle

A data model of the states an order moves through as it is placed, actioned and completed, and the events that drive each change.

An order moves through a small set of states as it is placed, actioned and completed. This page sets out those states and the events that move an order from one to the next.

The order states

The lifecycle is deliberately small. Five states carry every order, and everything else about an order is a field on it rather than a state of its own.

State	What it means	Final
Submitted	Placed and waiting to be verified or picked up.	No
In progress	Being fulfilled by the next actor.	No
On hold	Work has begun and is paused.	No
Completed	Fulfilled, at one recorded moment.	Yes
Cancelled	Stopped before completion.	Yes

The lifecycle at a glance

The diagram traces every path an order can take, from placement to a final state.

Figure 1.Diagram showing the order lifecycle, from placement through Submitted or In progress, with On hold beside In progress, ending in Completed or Cancelled.

Where an order starts

An order's first state follows one fact about the catalogue item: whether it requires verification. An item that requires verification places into Submitted, where the order waits for a verifier to accept it into work. An item that requires none places straight into In progress, where fulfilment begins at once.

The events that move an order

Each change of state is driven by a named event, and the order records who acted and when. The table below lists every path in the lifecycle.

From	To	What drives it
Placed	Submitted	An order that requires verification is placed.
Placed	In progress	An order that requires no verification is placed.
Submitted	In progress	A verifier accepts the order into work.
Submitted	Cancelled	The order is stopped before work begins.
In progress	On hold	Work is paused, with a recorded reason.
On hold	In progress	Work resumes.
In progress	Completed	The order is fulfilled.
In progress	Cancelled	The order is discontinued.
On hold	Cancelled	The order is discontinued while paused.

Acceptance into work

The step from Submitted to In progress is the one gated step in the lifecycle. An order that needs a co-signature or an insurance pre-authorisation waits at Submitted until both are in place, and a verifier then accepts it into work. The gate holds on the order itself, so acceptance always reflects the real state of the co-signature and the pre-authorisation.

Read how verification works in order verification.

Holding and resuming

An order in progress can pause. On hold records the reason the work stopped, and the order resumes to In progress when the work continues. Hold pauses work that has begun, so it applies once an order is in progress and leaves a waiting order at Submitted.

Cancelling

An order that has yet to finish can be cancelled from Submitted, from In progress or from On hold. A cancellation records its reason, and where the order raised a charge, it drives a matching reversal in Vault on the same day.

The result track alongside

A result runs on its own small track beside the order's status. A result is awaited, then entered by hand or received from an external system, then verified by a second person. The order completes on its own fulfilment, and the result track settles separately, so the two stay clean of each other.

A final state holds

Completed and Cancelled are final. An order rests in a final state, and its history stays readable exactly as it was, so an audit later reconstructs what happened without ambiguity.

Common questions

Can an order skip straight to completed?

An order enters progress before it completes. Fulfilment is recorded as a distinct step, so completion always follows work that has actually begun.

What happens to a medication order's many steps?

A medication order carries an operational sub-cycle beside its status, from pharmacy to the ward to administration. Those steps run alongside the five states and settle onto them, so the order keeps a single clear status throughout.

Does a paused order lose its schedule?

Holding an order pauses its remaining scheduled work and keeps what has already happened. Resuming picks the schedule back up.

See what an order preserves from the catalogue at placement in the ordered snapshot.