Running a clinic from reception to invoice: consents, packages and medical VAT

A private clinic is a medical practice and a business at the same time. The doctor wants an accurate clinical record, reception wants a queue where no patient gets lost, management wants to know which packages were sold and how much of them has been used, and the accountant wants correct VAT on every invoice. When those needs live in separate systems, the gaps appear in the same places every time: a patient seen but never billed, a package session used twice, a consent signed against wording that later changed.

Reception: a queue built on facts, not guesswork

A patient moves through clear stages: booked, arrived, in the room, done, billed — or no-show. Each transition is stamped with its time and the person who recorded it, so you know the real waiting time and who has been in the waiting area longer than they should. A walk-in patient is registered as an immediate booking for today and joins the same queue. Reception does not need clinical details to do its job, so it does not see them.

The visit: a record that is closed, not rewritten

Each service type has its own template and fields required at closing: the complaint, treated areas, products used, aftercare instructions, follow-up date and any complications. Once closed, the visit is not edited; an amendment is appended with its reason, its author and its time, and the original stays as it was closed. That protects both the doctor and the clinic if anyone returns to the file months later.

Consents: the wording that was signed is the wording that stays

Each consent form has versions; changing the wording creates a new version, and the old one stays as signed.
The patient signs on a tablet, and the displayed text, its version, its digital fingerprint and the signing time are stored.
A consent is never deleted; withdrawing it adds a record, and marketing consent is a separate, optional purpose.
Before-and-after photos can be uploaded only with a valid photography consent, and are kept in private storage.
Every view or print of health data is logged before it happens, so you know who looked at what.

Packages: sold once, and each session used once

A package is a promise of prepaid sessions, and a usage error costs either the clinic or the patient. The right approach is to consume the session when the linked visit is closed, with a fixed key so it is not repeated if the visit is closed twice or the connection drops, and never to consume a package that has expired or not yet started.

From an accounting point of view, the price of a package collected in advance is not all revenue on the day of sale; in substance it is an obligation to the patient for sessions not yet delivered. So a clinic manager needs to know at any moment how many paid sessions remain unused, for whom, and when they expire.

Indicators a clinic manager should check weekly

The share of booked patients who did not show up, alongside the effect of advance reminders.
Average waiting time between arrival and entering the room, by doctor and by time of day.
Visits that are finished but not yet billed.
Paid sessions not yet used, and packages close to their end date.
The cost of products used in a visit compared with the price of the service.
Lots in stock that are approaching expiry.

VAT on medical services

In Saudi Arabia the state bears the VAT on private healthcare provided to citizens, so those services are zero-rated subject to their conditions, while the standard rate applies to non-citizens and to anything outside the rule. The common mistake is leaving the decision to the receptionist on each invoice. The safer approach is a fixed rule: the patient’s nationality from their file, not from the payer card; the payer is the patient, not another party; and the service is not one the clinic has marked as always taxable. If information is missing — an unrecorded nationality, for example — the standard rate applies, not zero.

How Arttop 360 handles it

The clinics module includes «Reception & waiting list», «Clinic visits» with templates for services such as botulinum toxin, fillers, laser, peels and consultations, «Consent forms» and «Signed consents» with a tablet mode, the «Health data access log», «Clinic packages» whose sessions are used when the visit is closed, and «Injectables & lots», where products are dispensed by lot, the nearest expiry is suggested and expired lots are blocked. VAT follows the conditions above, based on the establishment’s country, and the clinic chooses in its settings how that zero rate is classified on its return and e-invoice. Appointment reminders for patients can be enabled under text messages.

Because the module is built on the establishment’s own accounting, medical receipts and invoices book their own entries, go through approval and, where the establishment is connected, are sent to ZATCA like any other financial document.

Before you start: a clinic setup checklist

Define services with their prices, and mark what the clinic treats as always taxable after checking with its tax adviser.
Review consent wording with your medical and legal advisers, and adopt it for the clinic before the first patient.
Record each patient’s nationality and ID in their file — correct VAT starts there.
Set up package templates with their number of sessions, duration and prices.
Receive injectables and consumables with their lot numbers and expiry dates.
Assign permissions: reception sees the queue, the doctor sees the clinical record, the accountant sees the invoices.

Put it to work in your business

14 days free, starting from your first sign-in.

Subscribe now