Assign roles to staff
BridgeERP HMS ships a ready-made set of staff roles that map to how a hospital actually works — receptionist, nurse, doctor, pharmacist, lab technician, cashier, manager, administrator. Assigning the right role to each user controls exactly what they can see and do across every app in the suite. This page explains the roles, how they layer on one another, and how to set users up.
Where to find it
- Settings → Users & Companies → Users — create staff accounts and assign roles.
- Settings → Users & Companies → Groups — inspect the BridgeERP HMS roles and what each grants.
- HMS Core → Configuration → Staff — the clinical staff directory, linked to user accounts and HR employees.
| Menu path | Opens | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Settings → Users & Companies → Users | User accounts | Creating logins and assigning the HMS role |
| Settings → Users & Companies → Groups | Security groups | Inspecting what each role grants |
| Settings → Users & Companies → Companies | Company records | Setting which sites a user may access |
| HMS Core → Configuration → Staff | Staff directory | Linking a clinician to a user and HR employee |
The roles
All HMS roles sit under the BridgeERP HMS category. They are designed as a ladder — each clinical role includes the permissions of the one below it, so you assign one role per person rather than stacking many.
| Role | Can do | Builds on |
|---|---|---|
| Reception | Register patients, book appointments, manage the queue, verify insurance | Base user |
| Nurse | Vitals, triage, care-plan notes, medication administration (dispensed, not prescribed) | Reception |
| Doctor | Clinical assessment, diagnosis, prescriptions, lab and imaging orders | Nurse |
| Pharmacist | Verify and dispense prescriptions, counsel patients, manage pharmacy stock | Base user |
| Lab Technician | Collect samples, perform tests, enter results | Base user |
| Lab Supervisor | Validate results, release reports, oversee quality control | Lab Technician |
| Radiologist | Read imaging, issue radiology reports | Base user |
| Cashier | Receive payments, issue receipts, close visit bills | Base user |
| Manager | Access all clinical and operational data, run reports, configure staff | Doctor (and others) |
| Administrator | Manage facilities, security groups, sequences, integration settings | Manager |
Because a Doctor inherits Nurse, which inherits Reception, a doctor can also take vitals and register a walk-in when needed — useful in small clinics where one person wears several hats. The two diagnostic ladders (Lab Technician → Lab Supervisor) and the standalone Pharmacist, Radiologist and Cashier roles are kept separate so you can grant them precisely. There is also a Patient Portal role for patients who sign into the portal to view their own appointments and visits — it is never assigned to staff.
Step 1 — create a staff user
- Go to Settings → Users & Companies → Users and click New.
- Enter the person’s Name and login Email.
- Set the Company (and, on multi-site groups, the facilities/companies they may access).
- Under the access-rights tab, set the BridgeERP HMS role to the single role that fits the person.
- Save and use Send invitation so the user sets their own password.
Step 2 — link to the staff directory
Clinical staff should also exist in HMS Core → Configuration → Staff. A staff record links the user account to an HR employee and is what the system uses to assign a doctor to a consultation, a nurse to a triage, or a head to a department. Create the staff record and point it at the user you just made.
| Staff field | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The staff member’s full name | Yes |
| User | The login account this person signs in with | Recommended |
| Employee | Link to their HR employee record | Optional |
| Department / Facility | Where they work | Recommended |
| Role | Their clinical/operational function in the directory | Yes |
| License / Registration Number | Professional registration, with authority and expiry | For clinicians |
| Specialty | Clinical specialty, for clinicians | Optional |
| Signature | Image stamped onto documents they sign | For clinicians |
The License Expiry field is tracked, so a clinician’s lapsing registration shows in the record’s history — useful when auditing who is currently licensed to practise. Each staff member can also carry a weekly schedule (day of week, start and end hours per facility) that downstream scheduling uses to offer their slots.
The Role chosen on a staff record is more than a label: when the record is linked to a user, the system adds that user to the matching security group automatically, so the directory role and the access role stay in step. Existing groups are not stripped, so a person who legitimately wears two hats keeps both.
| Staff directory role | Grants the security role |
|---|---|
| Doctor | Doctor |
| Nurse | Nurse |
| Pharmacist | Pharmacist |
| Lab Technician | Lab Technician |
| Radiologist | Radiologist |
| Receptionist | Reception |
| Cashier | Cashier |
| Administrator | Administrator |
What the roles control
Roles govern visibility in two layers. First, access rights decide which apps and records a role can open at all — a Cashier sees billing but not the clinical chart; a Lab Technician sees lab orders but cannot prescribe. Second, record rules narrow the rows within a model — most clinical and operational records are scoped to the user’s company/facility, so staff at one site do not see another site’s patients, visits or queues. The patient portal role is the tightest of all: a patient can see only their own record. The full picture of record rules and confidentiality is on Security & data protection.
Who manages roles
Only the Administrator role should manage users and security groups; this is stated in the Administrator role’s own definition (“manage facilities, security groups, sequences, integration settings”). Managers can configure staff and run reports but should not be reassigning security groups. Keep the count of Administrator-role holders to the minimum and review it regularly.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| User cannot see HMS menus at all | No BridgeERP HMS role assigned | Set a role on the user’s access-rights tab |
| Doctor cannot register a walk-in | Role set to Pharmacist/Cashier, not the clinical ladder | Assign the Doctor role (it includes Reception) |
| User sees the wrong site’s patients | Wrong company/facility on the user | Correct the user’s allowed companies |
| Cannot assign a clinician to a consult | No staff directory record | Create the record under HMS Core → Configuration → Staff |