Collection centre software: run franchise labs on one system

A collection centre registers patients and draws samples but sends them to a main lab for testing; a franchise lab does the same under its own brand and rate card; a B2B client is another lab or hospital that sends you samples at a transfer price. Running all of them on one system means one patient record, one barcode, one rate list per partner and one ledger for what each owes. Most of the trouble in lab networks comes from running them on separate systems.

What is the difference between a collection centre, a franchise and a B2B client?

The three look similar on a map and behave differently in the accounts. It helps to name them precisely before configuring software.

The software should treat each of these as a partner record with its own rate list, its own login scope and its own ledger. If it only has a branch concept, franchisees and B2B clients end up as workarounds.

How should rate lists work?

Every partner needs a rate list of its own. A hospital sending three hundred samples a month gets a lower transfer price than a two-room franchise. A rate list should be a named table of test and price with an effective date, assigned to one or more partners. Changing a price creates a new version; old bills keep the old price.

• Keep one master catalogue of tests. Rate lists reference it; they do not copy it. Adding a test once adds it everywhere.
• Set the patient price and the transfer price separately for franchisees, so their margin is explicit.
• Allow discounts within limits per role, and log every discount with the user who gave it.
• Package pricing, such as a health check bundle, should be a line on the rate list, not a manual discount.

Pathixio supports B2B clients and collection centres with their own rate lists in the Professional plan, which covers three collection centres; larger networks are priced on request.

What should a centre login be able to see?

A scoped login is one that sees only its own patients, its own bills and its own reports. A franchisee should not see a competing franchisee's patient list, and a B2B client should not see your other clients' transfer prices. This is basic confidentiality, and it is also what the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, published by MeitY, expects of anyone processing personal data: access limited to what the role needs.

1. Create a role per partner type: centre receptionist, centre manager, B2B client viewer, main-lab technician, pathologist, owner.
2. Scope each partner login to its own partner record. Reports, bills and MIS filter automatically.
3. Let a centre register, print barcodes, collect payment and print or send the authorised report. Nothing else.
4. Keep result entry and authorisation at the main lab only, unless a franchise has its own pathologist and analysers and you have agreed that in writing.
5. Review the audit log monthly for logins outside working hours or from unexpected locations.

How do samples move without getting lost?

Logistics is where networks fail. A courier bag with twenty tubes and a handwritten list arrives at the main lab, and the receiver spends an hour matching names. The fix is to make the barcode the identity from the first scan.

1. The centre registers the patient and prints the barcode label on a small thermal printer before drawing the sample.
2. At dispatch, the centre scans every tube into a manifest. The manifest records the collection time of each sample and the dispatch time of the bag.
3. The manifest goes with the bag, printed, and is visible on the main lab's screen before the bag arrives.
4. The main lab scans each tube at receipt. Missing and unexpected tubes are flagged immediately, and the centre is told the same day.
5. Transport time per centre appears in the turnaround-time report, so a centre with a slow courier is visible.

NABL's specific criteria for medical laboratories, NABL 112A, ask that a log of sample collection time accompany samples sent to the laboratory, and state that this applies to collection centres and sample collection agencies. A scanned manifest is that log, without anyone writing it by hand.

How does month-end reconciliation work?

Each partner has a ledger. For an own centre it is cash collected versus cash deposited. For a franchisee or B2B client it is transfer-price billing versus payments received. The software should produce, per partner, a statement listing every sample, the test, the transfer price, and the running balance, with part payments and dues shown.

• Close the month per partner, so late corrections appear as adjustments in the next statement rather than silently changing the old one.
• Send the statement as a PDF automatically, and settle against it.
• Watch dues ageing per partner. A B2B client that has not paid for two months should be visible on the owner's dashboard, not discovered at year end.
• Reconcile sample counts as well as money: samples dispatched, received, reported, and any that were rejected.

Done this way, month end is a report to review, not a project to run. The owner sees revenue by centre, dues by partner and turnaround by route in one place, which is what a network needs to grow without adding an accountant per branch.

Frequently asked questions

Can a franchise lab use its own brand on reports?

Yes, if the software has a report designer per partner. The franchisee's letterhead, logo and address appear on reports for its patients, while the tests are performed and authorised at the main lab, and the report names the performing laboratory and the authorising pathologist. Agree the exact format with the franchisee in writing before go-live.

How many collection centres can one plan support?

Pathixio's Professional plan includes three collection centres and three analyser interfaces, with eight users and up to three thousand patients a month, for ₹18,000 in the first year and ₹12,000 a year after that, excluding GST. Networks with more centres are quoted on request, with the same setup and training included.

Do B2B clients need to log in at all?

Not necessarily. Some clients prefer to send a paper requisition with the bag and receive reports by WhatsApp or email. A login helps when the client wants to see status, download reports for its own patients, or check its statement without calling. Offer it and let the client decide what suits them.