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Patient PVC Card Printing
HMIS prints the patient's plastic (PVC) ID card on a card printer. The front and the back are printed separately, one side at a time. The layout of each side (card size, which details appear, where they appear, the barcode, and the background artwork) is set once by an administrator and then used for every card.
| Video | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Set up the patient card layout (about 3 min) | Administrators: card size, margin, uploading the artwork, choosing and placing the details, barcode, saving |
| Print a patient card (about 1.5 min) | Front-desk staff: finding the patient, Print Front, turning the card over, Print Back |
- Open OPD → Patient Lookup & Registration.
- Find the patient (for example type the phone number or PHN into Quick Search) and open the patient profile.
- Put a blank card in the card printer.
- Click Print Front. In the browser's print dialog:
- Destination / Printer: your card printer
- Margins: None
- Scale: 100 (Default)
- then click Print.
- Turn the card over and put it back in the printer.
- Click Print Back and print with the same settings.
The back normally carries the barcode of the patient's PHN, so the card can be scanned at the counter.
If the patient has no PHN, the barcode and PHN are left blank. Give the patient a PHN first (Edit on the patient profile → PHN Number).
Menu path: Administration → Manage Institutions → Preferences → PVC Card Layout
The page has a Front tab and a Back tab; each side is set up and saved on its own. On the right, a live preview shows the card with a sample patient and follows you as you scroll.
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Card width / height (mm) | Standard credit-card size is 85.6 × 54 |
| Margin (mm) | The blank strip the printer leaves around the edge. Use 0 for edge-to-edge printing on a PVC card printer. The dashed line in the preview is the card edge |
Click Upload front background (or Upload back background on the Back tab) and choose the image — PNG or JPG, ideally at the same proportions as the card (for example 1011 × 638 pixels for 85.6 × 54 mm at 300 dpi). Instead of uploading, you can paste an image address into or external URL and click Save Background URL.
Leave plain areas in the artwork where the patient details will be printed.
Each row is one detail: institutionName, departmentName, name, dob (date of birth), phone, gender, address, barcode, phn.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Visible | Tick to print this detail on this side |
| X / Y (mm) | Position from the top-left corner of the card |
| Font size (pt), Font color | Text size and colour |
| Barcode type/size | Barcode row only: type (code128 recommended), width and height in mm. The bars fill exactly that size |
Typical setup: if the artwork already shows the hospital name, untick institutionName. Put name, date of birth, phone, gender and PHN on the front; put the barcode and PHN on the back.
Click Save Front Layout / Save Back Layout. The layout is used straight away by every Print Front / Print Back.
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| The card prints on two cards, or is shifted | Print dialog: Margins = None, Scale = 100. On the layout page, Margin should normally be 0 |
| Barcode does not scan | Use code128; keep the barcode at least 35 mm wide and 8 mm high; make sure the area behind it in the artwork is white |
| Text overlaps the artwork | Move the field (X / Y) in the layout page and watch the preview |
| No background prints | Check the image was uploaded on the correct tab (Front or Back) |