The test catalog

The test catalog is the master list of everything your lab offers. Each entry carries a price, a sample type, a reference range and a turnaround time — and that one entry is what a doctor searches for when ordering, what the technician sees when typing results, and what the front desk bills. Get the catalog right once and the rest of the lab module fills itself in.

Sign in to the Laboratory portal and click Test Catalog in the sidebar. The page head reads Test catalog — The tests your clinic offers, with pricing and reference ranges.

What the list shows

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Finding a test

Search tests by name or code…

Matches either the name or the code, and it searches the whole catalog — not just the page you are looking at. Typing cbc finds Complete Blood Count if that is its code.

All Categories

Narrows the list to one of the twelve categories.

Show Inactive

Off by default, so retired tests stay out of your way. Tick it to see Active and Inactive tests together — this is the only way to find a test you deactivated.

Twenty tests fit on a page. Below the list you get Previous / Next, Page 1 of 3, and a count such as 48 tests total. If nothing matches you get No tests found, and on a brand-new clinic the empty catalog offers + Add your first test.

Every field on a test

Only the name is compulsory. Everything else has a sensible default or can stay blank — but the blanks cost you later, because each field feeds a different screen.

Test Name *

The only required field. This is what doctors search for and what prints on the report, so use the full clinical name — Complete Blood Count, not CBC. Saving without it gives you the error Test name is required.

Test Code

A short handle such as CBC. Optional, but it makes searching far faster for both you and the doctor. Codes must be unique inside your clinic.

Category

Groups the test in the catalog filter. Defaults to General.

Sample Type

What has to be collected from the patient. Defaults to Blood. It shows on the doctor's search result and on the lab order, so whoever draws the sample knows what to take.

Description

A line or two about what the test is for. Kept on the test record for your own reference.

Patient Instructions

Preparation the patient must follow — Fasting for 12 hours before test, and so on. Kept on the test record; use it as the script for what you tell the patient at the counter.

Normal Range

The reference range as free text — 4.5-11.0, Negative, < 200. Anything you would write on a report is fine.

Unit

The unit the result is measured in, for example x10³/µL or mg/dL.

Turnaround (hours)

How long the test takes. Defaults to 24. Doctors see it as 24h TAT next to the test while ordering, so it sets the patient's expectation of when to come back.

Base Price (₹)

What the test costs. Defaults to 0. This is the amount copied onto the lab order and eventually billed — an unpriced test is a free test.

The categories and sample types

Both lists are fixed — you pick from them, you cannot add your own. If nothing fits, use Other.

Add a test

1. 1

   Click Add test at the top right.

   The Add New Test window opens with General, Blood and a turnaround of 24 already selected.

2. 2

   Type the Test Name, and a Test Code if you use codes.

3. 3

   Pick the Category and the Sample Type.

4. 4

   Add the Description and Patient Instructions if the test needs preparation.

5. 5

   Fill in Normal Range, Unit and Turnaround (hours).

6. 6

   Enter the Base Price (₹).

7. 7

   Click Create Test.

   You get Test created successfully and the test appears in the list, Active from the moment it is saved. Cancel closes the window and throws away what you typed.

Edit a test

1. 1

   Find the test and click the pencil icon on its row.

   The window opens as Edit Test, pre-filled with everything the test currently holds.

2. 2

   Change what you need to change.

3. 3

   Click Update Test.

   You get Test updated successfully.

Deactivate and reactivate

There is no delete. When you stop offering a test you deactivate it, which hides it from everyone but keeps every order and result that ever used it intact.

1. 1

   Click the trash icon on the test's row.

   You get Test deactivated. The test drops out of the list, and the doctor's search stops offering it immediately.

2. 2

   To bring it back, tick Show Inactive.

   The test reappears with a red Inactive chip.

3. 3

   Click the circular-arrow icon on that row.

   You get Test reactivated and doctors can order it again.

How the catalog reaches the doctor

During a consultation the doctor opens the lab panel, titled Order Lab Tests, and types into Search lab tests by name or code.... That search reads this catalog — and only its Active entries.

• Each suggestion shows the test name, then the code, the sample type and the turnaround as CBC • Blood • 24h TAT, with the base price on the right.
• The doctor clicks tests to stack them up, sets a Priority — Normal, Urgent or STAT — and can add Notes (optional).
• A running total such as 3 tests • ₹1150.00 is added up from your base prices.
• Send to Lab creates the order. It lands in your lab orders queue as Pending.

For the whole ordering flow from the doctor's side, see Ordering lab tests.

How the catalog reaches billing

The Base Price (₹) is the only number the lab module bills from. When an order is created, each test's base price is copied onto the order as that line's price, and the lines add up to the order's total.

• Every order in the lab queue carries a payment chip — Unpaid, Paid, Partial or Waived — so you can see at a glance whether a sample has been paid for.
• The front desk raises the actual bill in the admin billing screens, adding the test as an invoice line of type Lab Test. See Invoices and Recording payments.
• A test with no base price becomes a ₹0.00 line. It will not stop the order, and nothing will remind anyone to charge for it.

Setting the catalog up for the first time

• Add the ten or fifteen tests you actually run in-house, not a textbook list. Doctors search this catalog mid-consultation — a short, accurate one is faster to use.
• Give every test a Test Code. It is the quickest way for a doctor to pull a test up.
• Put a real Base Price on every test, even a nominal one, so nothing goes out unbilled.
• Fill in Normal Range and Unit now — they save the technician typing on every single order later.
• Set Turnaround (hours) honestly. It is what tells the patient when to come back.

Common questions