Charge Item Definition
Summary
The ChargeItemDefinition in CARE specifies how clinical activities (like lab tests or medications) are priced. It allows each ActivityDefinition, Medication, or other healthcare service to be tied to a dynamic billing rule that governs how much a service costs under specific conditions.
CARE’s billing model works behind the scenes: as practitioners record data (ServiceRequests, MedicationRequests, etc.), billing objects are automatically created using the relevant ChargeItemDefinition.
Core Relationships
| Related Resource | Purpose |
|---|---|
ActivityDefinition | Resource whose execution will generate this charge |
Medication | Medication product that incurs a cost |
Encounter, Patient | Used in condition evaluation for dynamic pricing |
Supported Fields
| Field Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
title | Name for human readability | "CBC Test Standard Rate" |
slug | Unique internal reference | "cbc-charge" |
derivedFromUri | Canonical URL reference if derived from standard | "http://example.org/rates/cbc" |
status | Lifecycle status (draft, active, etc.) | "active" |
facility | The facility where this pricing applies | Facility/medicity |
description | Free-text description of the charge definition | "Pricing for CBC including lab work" |
purpose | Rationale for the charge | "Used to generate automated bills" |
code | Internal or external billing/product code | "CBC01" |
instance[] | List of linked resources (ActivityDefinition, Medication) | [ActivityDefinition/cbc] |
propertyGroup[] | Array of pricing conditions and breakdowns | See below |
baseprice[] | Base Charge for a lab test | See below |
discounts[] | Price reduction applied to the base amount before tax | See below |
taxes[] | Applicable government taxes | See below |
### Billing Workflow in CARE
1. Practitioner creates a `ServiceRequest` for CBC.
2. The system checks the associated `ActivityDefinition` and its linked `ChargeItemDefinition`.
3. Based on patient and encounter details (age, location, tags), applicable pricing rules are evaluated.
4. A **charge item is instantiated** and added to the patient’s bill automatically.
5. Taxes and discounts are computed, total is stored with a detailed breakdown.