Concepts/Purchase Order

conceptsupplyCARE 3.0+

A purchase order records a request to buy stock from an outside vendor for a facility. It bundles one or more requested items under a single order, each naming a product and a quantity.

Care uses one order mechanism for two purposes: a purchase order names an external vendor and asks that vendor for stock, while a supply order names an internal source location and asks another location in the same facility for stock. Both types share the same fields, statuses, and screens — a purchase order always names an external supplier.

Key Attributes

Components	What it captures
Name	The name of the order. Required.
Note	Extra information about the order. Optional.
Intent	How firm the order is. Required.
Category	The kind of stock ordered. Required.
Priority	How urgent the order is. Required.
Reason	Why the order is placed. Required.
Vendor/Distributor	The external supplier organization ordered from. Required.
Destination	The facility location the goods are for. Required; defaults to the current location.

Intent

Records how firm the order is: Proposal, Plan, Directive, Order, Original Order, Reflex Order, Filler Order, or Instance Order.

Priority

Records how urgent the order is: Routine, Urgent, ASAP, or STAT.

Reason

Records why the order is placed: Patient Care or Ward Stock.

Requested items

Requested items are added after the order is created. Each one records the product requested and the quantity.

Status

Status	Description
Draft	The order has started but is not ready to send.
Pending	The order waits for the vendor to supply the goods.
Completed	The order is finished.
Abandoned	The order stopped before the vendor supplied the goods.
Entered in Error	The order was recorded by mistake.

Relationships

A purchase order does not create a delivery. To record stock that arrives, create a purchase delivery as a separate step.
A purchase delivery can reference the purchase order it fulfils, and Care fills in the delivery's details from that order.
A requested item names a catalog entry, not a specific stocked batch — see Product.

Permissions

Care controls purchase orders with facility-scoped permissions.

Permission	System Roles	What it allows
Can Create Supply Request on Facility	Facility Admin, Admin, Staff, Doctor, Nurse	Create or edit a purchase order and its requested items.
Can Read Supply Request	Facility Admin, Administrator, Admin, Staff, Doctor, Nurse, Volunteer, Pharmacist	View a purchase order.

📝 Note

Care has no separate approve action or complete action for a purchase order. To change the status, edit the order.

Pages that link here:

Concept: Concepts/Supply Order
Reference: References/Supply Request