Concepts/Product: Difference between revisions

A '''product''' in Care is a specific batch of a stockable item — a medication, nutritional product, or consumable — as it physically exists at one facility. It is the bridge between your catalogue ("we carry Paracetamol 500mg") and your shelves ("this box, lot A1234, expiring next March").

== What it represents ==

In Care's FHIR-aligned model, a product maps loosely to the '''Medication''' / supply resource family, but Care treats it as the concrete, batch-level instance of a catalogue definition. It captures:

* '''Batch detail''' — the lot number and expiry date that make one delivery distinct from the next

* '''Pricing & packing''' — the purchase price for this batch and the number of units in a standard pack

* '''Catalogue link''' — which product definition this batch instantiates

* '''Billing link''' — an optional charge definition so the item can be billed when it is used

* '''Status''' — whether this batch is in use, retired, or was recorded in error

The key distinction: a product is neither the catalogue entry nor your stock count. The catalogue entry describes ''what'' an item is in the abstract; a product describes ''this particular batch'' at a facility; the running quantity on hand is tracked separately by inventory. One catalogue entry can have many products underneath it — one per batch received.

== How it connects ==

A product sits in the middle of the supply chain, pointing up at the catalogue and down at the stock:

* '''[[Concepts/Product Knowledge|Product knowledge]]''' — the catalogue definition the product instantiates. Name, codes, dosage form, and product type are read from here, never copied onto the product. A product cannot exist without one.

* '''[[Concepts/Inventory Item|Inventory item]]''' — tracks the quantity of a product on hand at a location. The product says ''what batch''; the inventory item says ''how much, and where''.

* '''[[Concepts/Facility]]''' — every product belongs to exactly one facility, scoped to where it was received rather than shared across your network.

* '''[[Concepts/Charge Item Definition|Charge item definition]]''' — an optional link that raises a charge automatically when the product is billed.

== Types ==

A product's type comes from its catalogue definition, not from the product itself, so you classify an item once and every batch you receive inherits that classification. Care recognises three kinds:

* '''Medication''' — a drug or therapeutic agent

* '''Nutritional product''' — feeds, supplements, and similar items

* '''Consumable''' — gloves, syringes, dressings, and other single-use supplies

== Lifecycle ==

<syntaxhighlight lang="text">active → inactive

active → entered_in_error</syntaxhighlight>

* '''active''' — the batch is in use and can be dispensed, consumed, or billed

* '''inactive''' — the batch is no longer in use but is retained for history (for example, stock that is fully consumed or expired)

* '''entered_in_error''' — the record was created by mistake; it is kept for auditability rather than deleted

Unlike some clinical resources, a product keeps no server-side status history — it simply reflects its current status.

Access to products is granted per facility, so who can see or change a batch depends on the roles a user holds there.

! Description

! System Roles

| <code>can_write_product</code>

| Create, update, or upsert products (batches) at a facility

| <code>can_read_product</code>

| List and view products at a facility

Roles are assigned through facility and organization memberships, and permissions cascade down the organization tree — a role granted on a parent organization is inherited by the facilities beneath it. Creating or editing products is limited to administrators, while a broad set of clinical and pharmacy roles can read them.