Create orders

What creating an order does

Creating an order starts the clinical workflow. The order connects a patient to requested tests, sample requirements, pricing, branch, referral, visit type, and later result delivery. Once created, the order becomes the record that reception, cashier, collectors, technicians, reviewers, and managers all work from.

Choose a layout

The Order entry layout switch at the top of the page offers two ways to fill in the same order. Both show the same fields and save the same order; only the way you move through them changes. Kashef remembers your choice on this device.

Layout	Best for
All-in-one	Busy reception desks. Every section is on one screen: the test menu, total, and pricing on one side, the patient and order details on the other.
Step by step	New staff or careful entry. The order is split into four steps: Patient, Tests, Order details, and Review & total.

In Step by step, select Next to check the current step before moving on. If something is missing, the field shows what to fix and the step is marked Needs attention. You can also select any step at the top to jump back to it. Create Order appears on the last step. Pressing Enter in a text field moves to the next step. In All on one screen, a Create Order bar stays at the bottom of the screen, so you can finish without scrolling back up.

Use the top actions to Save Draft, Resume Draft, Discard Draft when a resumed intake should not continue, or Create Order. The status next to the layout switch tells you whether the draft has unsaved changes; drafts are also saved automatically every 30 seconds while you work. If Create Order keeps loading and the order was in fact created from your draft, pressing Create Order again opens that order's next steps instead of creating it twice.

Typing language for each field

Text fields such as Patient Name, Referring Doctor, the test search, Reason for Tests, and Order Notes have a small language button at their end. Point at it to see what each option does, and click it to switch:

Button	What happens
ع	The field always types Arabic, even if your keyboard is set to English.
EN	The field always types English letters and numbers, even if your keyboard is set to Arabic.
Language icon (Auto)	The field follows your computer's keyboard language.

For example, set Patient Name to ع and the test search to EN, then type through the form without switching your keyboard language. Kashef remembers each field's choice in this browser, so it stays the same the next time you open the page. Fields that share a purpose, such as the patient search and the new patient name, use the same choice.

On phones and tablets, tap the button to switch; a short card shows which option is active. Type with your on-screen keyboard as usual: letters are converted by their key position on a standard Arabic or English keyboard, and Arabic numbers become English numbers in EN fields. Autocorrect is turned off in these fields so it does not change what you type. Pasted text is never changed.

Patient and referring doctor

By default, the patient is also the client (the account owner). Click Patient Name to see the patients your branch ordered for most recently, or type a name or mobile number to search all patients of your lab. Choose a patient to fill their mobile number, date of birth, age, and gender. If the patient is new, type the name and choose Create new patient, then enter the mobile number, date of birth or age, and gender. Kashef creates the patient when you select Create Order.

Patient, client, and doctor searches match names however they are spelled. Typing Ahmed Hosny finds a patient saved as أحمد حسنى, and احمد finds أحمد. The closest spellings appear first, so confirm the mobile number before you choose.

Enter the number directly in Mobile Number. The flag and calling code are part of the same field; select the flag to search for another country. Matching patients appear below the input, and choosing one fills their details. For a new patient, keep the number you typed.

Name and phone validation for new patients

If the lab enables Require a three-part patient name, enter at least three name parts in the existing name field, for example Ahmed Mohamed Ali or أحمد محمد علي. The same requirement applies when you create a new primary client for a family member. Existing patients keep their saved details.

The country inside Mobile Number defaults to Lab country from Administration → Lab Settings → Lab Profile. Use the flag button to change it if the patient’s number belongs to another country. The number formats as you type, and pasting an international number selects its country. Enter either a local number or an international number with the matching calling code. For example, select Egypt for 01012345678 or +201012345678, and Saudi Arabia for 0501234567 or +966501234567. Arabic digits are accepted. An invalid number or a calling code that does not match the selected country must be corrected before continuing or creating the order. New numbers are saved in international format, and drafts remember your selected country.

Ordering for a family member

Turn on The patient is a family member of another client when the order is for a child, parent, or relative under someone else's account. Two extra fields appear:

1. Client Name (Primary Account): click it to see recent clients, or search by name or mobile number. Choose Create new client if the account owner is new.
2. Relation to Client: choose how the patient is related to the client, such as son or daughter.

After you choose the client, Patient Name lists that client's family members first. Choose one, or type a new name to add a new family member. Family members stay separate patients: the order, samples, results, and payments belong to the selected patient, not to the client.

When you choose an existing patient who already belongs to a family, Kashef turns the family option on and shows the client and relation for you.

Referring doctor

Click Referring Doctor to see the doctors most recently used by your branch, or type a name, phone, email, or clinic to search. If the doctor is new, choose Create new doctor; Kashef adds the doctor when the order is created. Leave it empty for self referral.

Check identity details

Check the patient name, mobile number, gender, and date of birth before continuing. Male or Female is required. Enter either the date of birth or the age; typing one fills the other. Next to Age, choose Year(s), Month(s), or Day(s), so you can enter a baby's age as, for example, 3 months or 10 days. When you enter a date of birth, the age switches to the unit that fits it best. These values appear on reports and decide which age- and sex-specific reference ranges apply.

One mobile number can belong to several family members, such as children using a parent's phone. Use the name and date of birth to choose the right person, and create a new patient for a different person instead of editing someone else's record.

When an order is created, Kashef links the selected patient to the current lab if they were not already attached, so every branch can find them again.

Select tests

The test selector pulls active tests from the catalog. Each selected item carries its code, an English display name, the retained Arabic catalog name, package source when applicable, pricing source, and clinical metadata. Test names remain English in the selector and summary even when the interface is Arabic, so reception can confirm the order consistently before moving forward.

Use the catalog names exactly as configured. Do not use order notes to request a test that is missing from the catalog. If a test is not available, add or activate it in the catalog first, then return to the order.

If packages are used, the order keeps package information in the item snapshot so the lab can later explain why several tests were added together.

Click anywhere on a test row, or its Add button, to add it. Click a selected row again to remove it. Selected tests appear under the test menu in the all-in-one layout and next to it in the step-by-step layout, with the running total at the bottom. The list loads more tests automatically as you scroll; filter by type or category, or search by name, Arabic name, or code.

Add and Remove show a spinner until the catalog update finishes. A test already included by a selected profile or package shows Added instead of Add and cannot be added separately. If an older or resumed draft already contains a duplicate, both affected selected items appear on a yellow background with a warning icon and an explanation underneath. Remove the separate test or edit the profile or package to exclude the duplicated test.

Use the edit control on a selected profile or package to uncheck tests that should be excluded from this order or add per-test comments. The package or profile price does not change when a test is excluded. The editor shows No changes to save and keeps Save disabled until the selection or a comment actually changes, so repeated clicks do not create ambiguous background work.

In Local Kashef, selecting a profile expands its configured component tests and selecting a package adds its configured package tests. If either item reports that no tests are available, run Sync Now in Kashef Desktop before continuing; technical details are recorded in Operations & logs.

Order information

The order details section controls visit and billing context:

Field	How to use it
Visit Type	Choose in-person visit for branch collection or home collection for dispatch work.
Priority	Use normal, urgent, or critical based on lab policy. Priority helps sample and result teams focus work.
Date and Time Slot	Set the scheduled collection or visit time. Pricing and dispatch can depend on this.
Contract Type	Filter available contract choices, such as insurance, hospital, corporate, or special pricing.
Contract Name	Select the active contract that should drive pricing. Leave empty for cash or base pricing.

Payment is not collected in the order form. Right after you create the order, the Next steps checklist lets you record the payment, or leave it for the cashier queue.

Patient history

Review the saved medical conditions and notes for the selected patient. Changes are saved to the patient profile for future orders while the current order keeps its own clinical snapshot.

Confirm requirements

When test requirements are enabled, the requirements section shows only what the patient must do for the selected tests — for example fasting, morning sample, medication notes, or bringing a urine sample. Requirements set to Lab staff in the catalog do not appear here; the collection team confirms them in the Sample Collection Workbench.

The same step shows Patient preparation for tests that need it: the specimen, fasting duration, and patient instructions in the current language. Read them to the patient or give them in the patient's preferred language.

Mark each requirement as met, unmet, or overridden. If you override a requirement, write a real reason. Kashef requires a reason because this is a clinical and operational exception, not a cosmetic field. A good reason names what was checked and why the lab accepted the order anyway.

Do not skip requirement review for home visits. The collector will rely on the order setup and may not have time to resolve missing preparation details at the patient's home.

Clinical context

Use Reason for Tests for the symptoms, screening purpose, follow-up, or clinical question. Use Order Notes for operational instructions that staff need later.

Total, loyalty points, and pricing

The Order total card shows the amount to pay. If the patient's family has loyalty points, enter the points to redeem; the card shows the available balance and the redemption rules, and the total updates right away. The Pricing breakdown lists the base subtotal, automatic discount, any loyalty discount, and the applied total, and you can open each item to see its original price, final price, and the pricing rule used.

Before the order is saved, Kashef reprices the selected tests using the tenant branch, scheduled date, and contract. The pricing breakdown stays visible as information and explains the base subtotal, automatic discount, applied total, pricing context, and applied rule.

Order checks appears at the top only when something must be corrected, such as after Create Order or Next finds a missing field. Each problem is also shown under the field it belongs to, and in the step-by-step layout Kashef opens the first step that needs attention. The message clears once you correct the field. For duplicate-test errors, edit the package or profile to exclude the duplicate, or remove the other selection.

Kashef also validates outsourced destinations for selected tests. If the selected catalog setup points to an outsource destination that is not valid, the order should be corrected before it reaches samples.

Review and confirm

Before selecting Create Order, compare the patient, tests, requirements, visit type, contract, and notes. In the step-by-step layout this is the Review & total step. Read the order as if you are handing it to another staff member. If the next person could not safely collect samples or explain the price from the order, correct the affected section first.

After create, Kashef stores a requested tests snapshot, creates order item records, records requirement confirmations when enabled, and can create sample records from the selected tests. The order then appears in the Operations Workbench and Orders list.

Next steps after creating

After Create Order, Kashef opens the Next steps checklist instead of the order page. Work through it from top to bottom; a step stays locked until the step it depends on is finished or skipped, and each finished item is crossed off.

1. Check the order details — opens the patient and the requested tests with their prices. Choose Details checked if everything is correct, or Edit order to reopen the order form with everything filled in. Correct what you need and choose Save Changes; you return to the checklist to check the details again.
2. Take the payment — choose Add payment to record the payment without leaving the page, or Later to leave it in the cashier queue. If nothing is due, the step is already done.
3. Print the receipt or invoice — print the receipt (after a payment) or the invoice, or choose Later.
4. Send WhatsApp messages — send the order created message, the payment received message with the loyalty points earned, and the patient portal access details. The portal access message carries the same login code printed on the receipt, so earlier codes keep working. Kashef prepares each message in WhatsApp; review it and press Send yourself. Skip any message you do not need.

Choose Done when every step is finished or skipped, or Skip at any time, to open the order page.

Edit order is available only while the order has no payment, discount, or collected sample. Saving your changes replaces the order with a new order number. After a payment or collection, use Amend Tests on the order page instead.

Common mistakes to avoid

Do not create a second profile for the same person because the spelling is slightly different. Shared phone numbers are allowed for different people, but identity details and family relation must be checked before selection.

Do not leave a requirement overridden without a meaningful reason.

Do not put billing exceptions only in notes. Use the contract and cashier flows so reports and finance remain consistent.

Do not create a home collection order without enough address and scheduling information for dispatch.

Do not change clinical tests after samples or results have already moved unless the lab manager confirms the correction path.