Organisation Hierarchy Overview

Overview

HMIS models your organisation as a hierarchy of entities. Understanding this structure is essential because it controls how users log in, how fees are applied, how items are mapped, and how reports are grouped. The hierarchy flows from top to bottom: Institution → Site → Department.

The Three Levels

Institution

An institution is the top-level organisation unit. In a typical hospital group, the main hospital is an institution. Branches, collecting centres, and subsidiary entities are also modelled as institutions, linked to a parent institution.

Examples: "City General Hospital", "Northside Branch", "Lab Collecting Centre 01"

Site

A site is a physical location within an institution. Sites are used when an institution operates across multiple buildings or campuses, and you want fees or departments to be differentiated by location.

Examples: "Main Building", "Annex Block", "Night Clinic"

Department

A department is the operational unit where work actually happens. Each department has a type (e.g. OPD, Pharmacy, Radiology, Ward) and is linked to an institution. Most configuration in HMIS — fees, item mappings, user login — is done at the department level.

Examples: "OPD Counter", "Radiology", "Maternity Ward", "Main Pharmacy"

Other Organisation Entities

In addition to the main hierarchy, the following support entities are managed under Manage Institutions:

Entity	Purpose
Collecting Centre	External sample or referral point, separate from main branches
Area	Geographic zone or region, used for route planning
Bank / Bank Account	Bank and account details for payments and cheque printing
Banking Branch	Individual branch of a bank
Credit Company	Insurance companies and corporate credit clients
Route	Named delivery or collection circuit
Institution Branch	Sub-branches of an institution

How the Hierarchy Affects the System

• User login: When a user logs in, they select their institution and department. Only departments assigned to them are shown.
• Item mapping: Services can be restricted to specific institutions or departments. A service that is not mapped to a department will not appear during billing there.
• Fee calculation: The system looks for department fees first, then site fees, then base fees — allowing different prices per location.
• Bill numbering: Bill number prefixes and sequences can be configured per institution.
• Reports: Most reports can be filtered by institution and/or department.

Navigating to Institution Management

1. Click Administration in the main menu
2. Click Manage Institutions
3. The institution management hub opens

Required privilege: AdminInstitutions

Related Features

• Creating and Managing Institutions
• Creating and Managing Departments
• Site and Location Management
• Collecting Centres
• Fee Configuration Overview