Admin Creating and Managing Departments - hmislk/hmis GitHub Wiki
Creating and Managing Departments
Overview
Departments are the operational units where clinical and administrative work is performed. Every bill, login, item mapping, and fee configuration ultimately traces back to a department. This page covers creating, editing, and managing departments.
When to Use
- Setting up a new clinical or administrative department
- Changing a department's institution, type, contact details, or printing name
- Reviewing all departments for an institution
Navigating to Department Management
- Click Administration → Manage Institutions
- Select Departments from the management index
- The department list opens on the left; the detail form on the right
Required privilege: AdminInstitutions
The Department List
Departments are shown in a list on the left. Use the filter box to search by name. Click a department to select it and view/edit its details.
From the department management page:
- Add New — creates a new department
- Delete — permanently removes the selected department (confirmation required)
- Manage — opens the full detail form for editing
Creating a New Department
- Click Add New
- Fill in the Basic Details tab:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | The department's full operational name |
| Code | Short identifier code for the department |
| Department Code | An additional code (e.g. for reporting or integration) |
| Printing Name | Name used on printed documents (bills, reports) — can differ from the operational name |
| Address | Physical address of the department |
| Tel. No. 1 | Primary telephone number |
| Tel. No. 2 | Secondary telephone number |
| Fax | Fax number |
| Contact email | |
| Department Type | Functional type — select from dropdown (e.g. OPD, Pharmacy, Radiology, Inward, Lab) |
| Institution | The institution this department belongs to — type to search |
- Click Save (top right of the form)
Editing a Department
- Select the department from the list
- Update fields as needed
- Click Save
The Editing Details Tab
The Editing Details tab on the department form shows the name of the user who created the record. This is audit information only.
Department Types
The Department Type dropdown controls how the department appears in various system functions. Key types include:
- OPD — outpatient billing and services
- Pharmacy — pharmacy dispensing and stock
- Radiology — imaging services
- Lab — laboratory investigations
- Inward / Ward — inpatient services
- Theatre — surgical theatre
- Channelling — appointment scheduling
- Store — inventory and goods management
Setting the correct type ensures the department appears in the correct module's department selectors.
Printing Name
The Printing Name is what appears on bills and reports rather than the internal system name. For example, a department named "OPD Counter 1 - Ground Floor" might have the printing name "Out-Patient Department" for cleaner bill layouts.
Deleting a Department
Warning: Only delete departments that have never been used. Deleting a department with existing bills, users, or item mappings can cause data integrity issues. To take a department out of service, ask your system administrator to retire it rather than delete it.
Technical Notes (Admin/Developer)
Departments are stored as Department entities linked to Institution. The departmentType field maps to the DepartmentType enum. Saving calls departmentController.saveSelectedDepartment(). The full department management hub at department_management.xhtml shows a list with drill-down to the edit form; department_management_all.xhtml shows all departments across institutions.