Comparison of Patient vs Facility Inventory

The EMR provides two inventory functions, designed to be complementary but which can be used separately depending on your needs. 

• Patient Inventory: Tracks medications per patient (received, stored, dispensed while in treatment). Focused on logging meds linked to individual patients and their orders.

• Facility Inventory: Tracks medications at the facility level (all bottles/packs stored). Focused on logging meds received, stored, and dispensed across the whole facility.

The table below provides a high-level overview of the key similarities, differences, and overlapping functionality. 

Function	Patient Inventory	Facility Inventory
Purpose	Tracks medications for individual patients while in treatment. Focused on chart-level management.	Tracks medications at the facility level (all bottles/packs). Focused on supply management.
Access	Inventory > Patients	Inventory > Facility
Row Details	Each row = medication with dosage/strength per patient.	Each row = specific bottle/pack with unique serial number.
Filters	Patient, medication, status, date range, strength, serial, lot	Medication, status, date range, strength, serial, lot (no patient filter)
Adding New Medications	Can be logged from:  Meds Brought In by Patient Doctor’s Orders Directly from the Patient Inventory page.	Logged via New button in Facility Inventory. Requires NDC, Lot #, Serial #, Location. Can bulk add bottles and attach documents (e.g., order slip).
Transactions Supported	Common: Spillage, Med Count, Lost, Returned, Disposed, Return to Inventory.  Unique: Refill, Add, Transferred Out (to facility).	Common: Spillage, Med Count, Lost, Returned, Disposed, Return to Inventory. Unique: Transferred In (from bottle switch).
Medication Actions	Edit Received (not for “Meds Brought In”) Cancel most recent transaction (not Dispensed) Reconcile (lock records) Link Orders Refill Medication (order-based)	Edit Received Cancel multiple transaction types (not Dispensed) Reconcile (lock records) Change In-Use Bottle Med Log Message when bottle runs out Replenish Medication (supply-based)
Refill/Replenish	Refill: Tied to active Doctor’s Orders. Pulls from remaining refills.	Replenish: Creates a new bottle when stock is low/expired. Not tied to patient orders.
Signatures	Witness and Reviewer as required. Linked to patient transactions.	Witness and Reviewer as required. Linked to facility supply control, especially for controlled substances.