References/Organization

referenceaccess-governanceCARE 3.0+

Access

Concepts

Roles & Permissions

Organization Facility Organization

User

References

Organization

User & Skills Role Permission

Permission Association

Organizations are Care's FHIR-aligned grouping primitive: a nested tree that groups permissions and resources. A node might represent all doctors, a Cardiology sub-team, or a governance unit, and permissions attached to a parent flow implicitly to every descendant. You touch them whenever you model who can do what, and where.

Source: [https://github.com/ohcnetwork/care/blob/develop/care/emr/models/organization.py care/emr/models/organization.py] · [https://github.com/ohcnetwork/care/blob/develop/care/emr/resources/organization/spec.py resources/organization/spec.py] · [https://github.com/ohcnetwork/care/blob/develop/care/emr/resources/organization/organization_user_spec.py resources/organization/organization_user_spec.py]

The Django model is only the storage layer. Its opaque columns — JSONFields (metadata, cached_parent_json) and arrays (parent_cache, managing_organizations) — get their structure from the resource specs under care/emr/resources/organization/, which also define the org_type enum, validation, the nested JSON returned for parent, and the read/write API schemas. See Resource specs (API schema).

Models

Model	Purpose
OrganizationCommonBase	Abstract base holding the tree structure, caching, and uniqueness logic shared by both organization types
Organization	Instance-wide organization (permission/governance tree, not tied to a facility)
FacilityOrganization	Facility-scoped organization (departments/teams within one Facility)
OrganizationUser	Membership row linking a User to an Organization with a RoleModel
FacilityOrganizationUser	Membership row linking a User to a FacilityOrganization with a RoleModel

Organization and FacilityOrganization extend OrganizationCommonBase, which extends EMRBaseModel — the shared Care EMR base providing external_id, audit fields, soft-delete, and history/meta JSON. OrganizationUser and FacilityOrganizationUser extend EMRBaseModel directly. OrganizationCommonBase is abstract = True and has no table of its own.

OrganizationCommonBase fields

These columns land on both the Organization and FacilityOrganization tables.

Identity & classification

Field	Type	Required	Default	Notes
name	CharField(255)	yes
org_type	CharField(255)	yes
description	TextField	no
active	BooleanField	no
system_generated	BooleanField	no
metadata	JSONField	no

Tree structure

Field	Type	Required	Default	Notes
parent	FK → self	no
root_org	FK → self	no
has_children	BooleanField	no

Denormalized caches

Care rebuilds these on insert so reading the tree doesn't need recursive joins. Do not set them from clients.

Field	Type	Default	Rebuilt by	Shape
level_cache	IntegerField	0	set_organization_cache()	Depth in the tree (parent.level_cache + 1)
parent_cache	ArrayField[int]	[] (list)	set_organization_cache()	Full ancestor internal id chain (parent.parent_cache + [parent.id])
cached_parent_json	JSONField	{} (dict)	get_parent_json()	Materialized parent record (shape below). Rebuilt after cache_expiry_days (15)

cached_parent_json is built in get_parent_json() and is {} for root orgs:

{
  id:           str   (parent.external_id, UUID as string)
  name:         str
  description:  str | null
  org_type:     str   (OrganizationTypeChoices value)
  metadata:     dict
  parent:       dict  (recursively, the parent's own cached_parent_json)
  level_cache:  int
  cache_expiry: str   (ISO datetime; cache is reused while now < cache_expiry)
}

This is the same structure OrganizationReadSpec.parent returns on read (see parent read shape).

Related models

Organization

Instance-wide organization. Adds one field on top of OrganizationCommonBase:

Field	Type	Default	Notes
managing_organizations	ArrayField[int]	[] (list)

FacilityOrganization

Facility-scoped organization — departments, teams, and groups within one facility. Adds one field on top of OrganizationCommonBase:

facility → FK facility.Facility  (CASCADE)

Its org_type binds to FacilityOrganizationTypeChoices rather than OrganizationTypeChoices (see Facility organization type values), and its specs live in resources/facility_organization/. FacilityOrganizationWriteSpec requires facility + org_type + optional parent (validated to be in the same facility); FacilityOrganizationReadSpec / FacilityOrganizationRetrieveSpec mirror the instance read specs, resolving the caller's permissions through get_permission_on_facility_organization. See References/Facility.

OrganizationUser

Grants a user access to an organization's resources through a role — only the resources assigned to the org, not everything it owns.

organization → FK Organization (CASCADE)
user         → FK users.User   (CASCADE)
role         → FK security.RoleModel (CASCADE)

FacilityOrganizationUser

The facility-scoped equivalent of OrganizationUser.

organization → FK FacilityOrganization (CASCADE)
user         → FK users.User           (CASCADE)
role         → FK security.RoleModel    (CASCADE)

Enum & coded values

Organization type values

Organization.org_type is a CharField in the DB, but every write binds to OrganizationTypeChoices (resources/organization/spec.py).

Value	Meaning
team	A working / department-style grouping of people (the default)
govt	A governance unit mirroring a real administrative hierarchy (State → District → …). Any user can view these to support cross-governance coordination; create/edit is superadmin-only; facilities and patients reference these nodes geographically
role	A user group — a flat set of users, e.g. Volunteer, ASHA Worker. Adding an OrganizationUser to a role-typed org invalidates that user's cached_role_orgs (see [[#organizationusersave
product_supplier	Supplier organization (links to the supply chain)

Facility organization type values

FacilityOrganization.org_type binds to a separate enum — FacilityOrganizationTypeChoices (resources/facility_organization/spec.py), not OrganizationTypeChoices.

Value	Meaning
root	System-generated top node, one per facility (cannot be edited or deleted)
dept	A department within the facility
team	A team, often nested under a department
role	A facility-scoped user group
other	Any grouping outside the categories above

Root, govt, and role (instance) organizations, plus any system-generated organization, are restricted to superadmin management.

Resource specs (API schema)

Resource specs (EMRResource subclasses) are the API layer. serialize builds a read object from a DB row, running the perform_extra_serialization / perform_extra_user_serialization hooks; de_serialize builds a DB row from a write payload, running perform_extra_deserialization. __exclude__ lists the model fields the base serializer skips so a hook can handle them instead.

Organization specs (resources/organization/spec.py)

Spec	Role	Fields exposed	Notes
OrganizationBaseSpec	shared	id, active, org_type, name, description, metadata	__model__ = Organization, __exclude__ = ["parent"]. org_type bound to OrganizationTypeChoices; description defaults ""; metadata defaults {}
OrganizationUpdateSpec	write · update	(inherits OrganizationBaseSpec)	No extra fields — parent can't change on update
OrganizationWriteSpec	write · create	null	Validates parent exists (validate_parent_organization); on create, perform_extra_deserialization resolves parent from external_id (or sets None)
OrganizationReadSpec	read · list	base + level_cache, system_generated, has_children, parent: dict	perform_extra_serialization sets id = external_id and parent = obj.get_parent_json() — see [[#parent-read-shape
OrganizationRetrieveSpec	read · detail	OrganizationReadSpec + permissions: list[str], managing_organizations: list[dict]	perform_extra_user_serialization fills permissions (via AuthorizationController.get_permission_on_organization for the requesting user), expands managing_organizations to nested OrganizationReadSpec JSON, and adds audit users (serialize_audit_users)

parent read shape

On read, OrganizationReadSpec.parent (and OrganizationRetrieveSpec.parent) is not a UUID — it's the nested object from get_parent_json(), sharing the shape of cached_parent_json: { id, name, description, org_type, metadata, parent (recursive), level_cache, cache_expiry }, or {} for root orgs. On write, parent is instead a plain UUID4 (the parent's external_id).

Membership specs (resources/organization/organization_user_spec.py)

Spec	Role	Fields exposed	Notes
OrganizationUserBaseSpec	shared	(none)	__model__ = OrganizationUser, __exclude__ = ["user", "role"]
OrganizationUserUpdateSpec	write · update	role: UUID4	validate_role requires the RoleModel to exist; perform_extra_deserialization resolves role from external_id. Only the role can change on update
OrganizationUserWriteSpec	write · create	role: UUID4 + user: UUID4	Extends the update spec; validate_user requires the User to exist. On create, resolves both user and role from external_id
OrganizationUserReadSpec	read	id: UUID4, user: dict, role: dict	user = cached UserSpec JSON (model_from_cache); role = RoleReadSpec JSON (full permissions)
OrganizationUserExtendedReadSpec	read	id: UUID4, role: dict, organization: dict	Used by OrganizationUser.get_cached_role_orgs(). organization = OrganizationReadSpec JSON; role = RoleReadMinimalSpec JSON (no permission list)

Nested membership JSON shapes (from resources/role/spec.py, resources/user/spec.py):

role  (RoleReadSpec):        { id: UUID, name, description, is_system: bool,
                               is_archived: bool, contexts: [RoleContext],
                               permissions: [{ name, description, slug, context }] }
role  (RoleReadMinimalSpec): same as above without `permissions`
user  (UserSpec):            cached user summary JSON

Methods & save behaviour

OrganizationCommonBase.save()

On insert (no id yet), the base saves the row, then calls set_organization_cache() to populate the tree caches. Updates save normally and don't recompute caches.

set_organization_cache() side effects when a parent is set:

1. Computes parent_cache = parent.parent_cache + [parent.id] and level_cache = parent.level_cache + 1.
2. Derives root_org from the parent (parent.root_org, or the parent itself if the parent is a root).
3. If the parent had no children before, flips parent.has_children = True and persists only that field.

get_parent_json()

Returns the cached parent JSON while cached_parent_json is present and cache_expiry is still in the future. Otherwise it recursively rebuilds the nested parent record, stamps a new expiry (cache_expiry_days = 15), and persists cached_parent_json. Returns {} for root orgs. This is what OrganizationReadSpec.parent exposes on every read.

validate_uniqueness(queryset, pydantic_instance, model_instance)

Classmethod enforcing name uniqueness among siblings — those sharing the same root_org and level_cache. For a new org it derives level_cache/root_org from the supplied parent (external_id); a null parent means level_cache = 0 and a null root_org. The resource layer calls it before create/update.

OrganizationUser.save()

After saving, if the linked organization's org_type is role (OrganizationTypeChoices.role), it clears user.cached_role_orgs (sets it to None and persists that field) so the user's role-org cache rebuilds on the next read.

OrganizationUser.get_cached_role_orgs(user_id) is a classmethod that serializes all of a user's role-typed org memberships via OrganizationUserExtendedReadSpec.

API integration notes

• Organizations are exposed through Care's REST API and align with the FHIR Organization resource. Tree position (level_cache, parent_cache, root_org), has_children, and cached_parent_json are platform-maintained — don't set them from clients.
• Write path: OrganizationWriteSpec (create) / OrganizationUpdateSpec (update). org_type is constrained to OrganizationTypeChoices; parent is supplied as the parent's external_id (UUID) and validated to exist; validate_uniqueness enforces sibling-name uniqueness. parent is immutable after create (the update spec omits it).
• Read path: OrganizationReadSpec (list) returns parent as nested JSON (get_parent_json()) plus level_cache/system_generated/has_children; OrganizationRetrieveSpec (detail) adds the caller's permissions, expanded managing_organizations, and audit users.
• Membership is managed through OrganizationUser / FacilityOrganizationUser (specs above); role is required and bounded by the assigning user's own role in that org. Adding a member to a role-typed org invalidates that user's cached_role_orgs.
• metadata is the supported place for deployment-specific key-value data without schema migrations; the specs pass it through verbatim as dict.
• Soft-delete applies (via EMRBaseModel); an organization can't be deleted while it still has children, and system-generated orgs can't be deleted.

Access governance

Concepts

Roles & Permissions · Organization · Facility Org · User

References

Organization · User & Skills · Role · Permission · Permission Association

Related

Pages that link here:

• Concepts/Facility Organization
• Concepts/Organization
• References/Favorites

• Reference: References/Permission

Wiki: ohcnwiki.tellmey.fyi

Open Healthcare Network's flagship product: an open-source, FHIR-native electronic medical record (EMR) and healthcare operating system.

Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources — an HL7 standard for exchanging healthcare data. CARE is built on FHIR R5.

Electronic Medical Record — the digital record of a patient's clinical information.