Set up pricing

Introduction

Pricing controls what reception charges and what finance expects to reconcile. A clear pricing setup prevents manual overrides, patient disputes, unpaid balances, and incorrect invoices.

Start with simple base prices. Add special prices only after the normal cash workflow is correct. If your lab uses contracts, insurance, doctor agreements, company accounts, or partner lab pricing, document who owns each price list and when it applies.

Base prices

Every orderable test, profile, and culture needs a base price. This is the normal cash price, and every other price is calculated from it.

1. Open Catalog → Test Prices.
2. Open the Missing Price tab.
3. Type each price in the Base Price box and press Enter.

To enter many prices from a spreadsheet, select More → Export Prices, fill in the Base Price column, then use More → Import Prices. Start with your most common tests; the first live day depends on them most.

Price lists for insurers and companies

Create one price list for each payer that pays different prices.

1. In Catalog → Contracts, add the payer and its Default Coverage.
2. In Catalog → Price Lists, select Create Price List, enter the name, choose the payer type, and link the contract.
3. Under How are prices calculated?, choose the rule for all items, for example Discount % off base price with 15%.
4. Save, then select Add Special Prices for items with a different agreed price.
5. When the list is checked, select Activate.

For each list, record who approved it and when it ends using Valid Until and Notes. Do not create two lists for the same agreement; use Duplicate to prepare a new year's prices.

Insurance and company billing

Insurance and company billing may affect what the patient pays now and what remains due from another party. Make sure reception understands eligibility, coverage notes, co-payment, and invoice ownership before confirming the order.

If insurance approval is required, decide whether orders can be created before approval or must wait. Make the rule clear so reception does not promise coverage that finance cannot collect.

Discounts

Discounts should be controlled. Decide which roles can apply discounts, what limits they have, and whether a reason is required.

Use configured discount rules for common cases such as campaigns, staff discounts, repeat patients, or owner-approved promotions. Avoid using manual price changes to fix catalog mistakes. If the catalog price is wrong, correct the catalog.

Review discount reports regularly. Frequent discounts by one user, branch, doctor, or campaign may need management review.

Payment methods

Define payment methods before creating live orders. Common methods include cash, card, wallet, bank transfer, insurance, company credit, and partner account.

Each method should map to an account finance can reconcile. If the cashier cannot match a payment method to an account at shift close, reports will become unclear.

Decide whether partial payments are allowed and what happens when a balance remains. Some labs allow result release before full payment; others block release until payment is complete. Configure the rule that matches your policy.

Test the pricing setup

Use Price Checker on Test Prices to check prices without creating orders. Choose the payer, the date, and a few common items, and compare the totals with the signed agreement.

Then create sample orders for the most important scenarios:

• Cash patient with normal base prices.
• Patient with a package.
• Patient with a discount.
• Company or contract patient.
• Insurance patient with patient share and insurer share.
• Order with partial payment if allowed.

For each scenario, check the order total, paid amount, remaining balance, receipt, invoice, and cashier report. If any scenario looks wrong, fix pricing before training reception.

Daily pricing checks

Reception should stop and ask for help when a price looks wrong. The answer is usually in one of these areas:

• Missing base price.
• Wrong contract selected.
• Patient linked to the wrong insurer or company.
• Discount applied outside its intended scope.
• Package missing one of its test prices.
• Currency or branch context is wrong.

Fix the configuration instead of asking staff to remember manual exceptions.