Hospital information system (HIS): what it is, how it works
A hospital information system (HIS) keeps medical records, admissions, orders and NFZ billing in one program. We explain its modules and implementation.
A hospital information system (HIS) is software that keeps a patient’s medical records, registration, ward stays, test orders and billing with the National Health Fund (NFZ, Poland’s public health insurer) in one program. Doctors, nurses, reception and administration all use it, and each of them sees the same up-to-date patient data, within the limits of their permissions.
What the abbreviation HIS means
HIS stands for hospital information system. In Polish it is called a szpitalny system informacyjny or simply a system szpitalny. The name comes from hospitals, but systems of this class are also used by clinics, medical centres with several sites and diagnostic centres.
In clinics, people more often talk about a practice management system. It is narrower in scope and handles registration, consultations and outpatient billing. A HIS also covers inpatient care: admissions, wards, the operating theatre and the hospital pharmacy.
HIS modules
A hospital information system is made up of modules. A hospital buys and implements the ones it needs and can add more later. The most common modules are:
- patient registration and appointment scheduling, including online booking
- patient flow: admissions, stays, transfers between wards and discharges
- electronic medical records (EDM in Polish regulations), with documents exchanged through P1, Poland’s national e-health platform
- test and consultation orders sent to diagnostic departments, the laboratory and RIS or LIS
- the hospital pharmacy and ward medicine stocks
- the operating theatre
- billing for services with the NFZ and private payers
- statistics and reports for management
Patient flow is the heart of the system in a hospital. It shows which ward a patient is on, who is in charge of their care and which services need to be billed. The orders module links wards with diagnostic departments: the result goes back into the medical record without being retyped. Billing uses the data entered by doctors and nurses, so the billing team does not have to collect it from the wards by hand.
Module names differ between vendors. For example, in its description of Optimed NXT (in Polish), the vendor lists registration, hospital admissions, wards, medical orders, pharmacy, NFZ billing and EDM, among others. When choosing a system, compare the scope of features rather than the names.
Healthcare providers keep medical records in electronic form, and on paper only where a regulation requires it or conditions do not allow otherwise. Since 1 July 2021 they have also had to report medical events (records of the services provided to patients) to P1 under the Act on the information system in healthcare (in Polish). That is why the EDM module and the P1 connection are now the foundation of every HIS.
HIS, RIS and PACS: how they differ
In a hospital, a HIS rarely works alone. It works with systems that serve particular diagnostic departments:
| System | Full name | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|
| HIS | hospital information system | patient data, stays, records, orders, billing |
| RIS | radiology information system | registering imaging studies, the department schedule, reports |
| PACS | picture archiving and communication system | storing and viewing X-ray, CT and MRI images |
| LIS | laboratory information system | handling laboratory orders and results |
A typical flow looks like this: a doctor orders a study in the HIS, the order goes to the RIS, the scanner saves the images in the PACS, and the report returns to the patient’s record in the HIS. The systems usually exchange data in the HL7 standard, and images in the DICOM standard.
Each of these connections has to be configured and maintained. We describe HIS, RIS, PACS and LIS integrations on our HIS, RIS and PACS implementation page.
HIS in the cloud or on the hospital’s server
A HIS runs in one of two ways.
In the cloud, the system runs on the vendor’s servers and your team uses it in a web browser. You do not buy a server or run a server room. You usually pay a subscription. In return, you need a stable internet connection, ideally with a backup one, because without the internet, registration and consulting rooms stop working. You sign a data processing agreement with the cloud provider.
On your own server, the system runs in your server room. Patient data stays on site, and if the internet connection fails, the system keeps working inside the building. Data exchange with P1 still needs a connection, though. The hospital, or the company that looks after its IT, is then responsible for the server, backups, updates and security. Some systems, such as Asseco mMedica, are installed as a program on Windows computers. Others, like Optimed NXT, run on a server in the hospital while users work in a web browser.
The vendor’s cloud usually suits smaller clinics without their own IT team. For some of them we also suggest a third option: the system on a virtual server rented in the cloud (infrastructure as a service, IaaS), with no server room of their own. Hospitals with a server room and more users more often choose their own server. Our article Optimed NXT: cloud or on-premises server explains how to choose for Optimed NXT.
What the cost of a HIS depends on
The cost of a hospital information system is made up of several items, best compared together:
- the licence or subscription according to the vendor’s price list, usually based on the number of users and modules
- implementation: configuration, data migration, integrations with P1, the laboratory and diagnostic departments, and training
- infrastructure: a server and backups for an on-site installation, or an internet connection for the cloud
- post-implementation support: updates, user support and on-call cover
What drives the cost of an Optimed NXT implementation is described in our article how much an Optimed NXT implementation costs (in Polish).
How to prepare a hospital or clinic for a HIS implementation
- List the processes the system has to handle: registration, wards, diagnostic departments, billing and integrations with other software.
- Choose the system and how it will run. Compare the modules, how licences are charged and the cost of running it over several years.
- Assess your infrastructure. For your own server, check the server, storage array, backups and emergency power. For the cloud, check the internet connection and the network throughout the building.
- Plan the data migration from the old system. Medical records must, as a rule, be kept for 20 years (Art. 29 of the Act on Patient Rights and the Patient Ombudsman, in Polish), so historical data has to stay accessible.
- Prepare the P1 certificates and the integrations with the laboratory, diagnostic departments and external systems.
- Plan training for doctors, nurses, reception and administration, and support for the first days of work.
- Agree who is responsible for the system after implementation: the vendor, the implementation company or your IT team.
The most popular HIS systems in Poland
Several hospital information systems with a long implementation history are used in Polish hospitals. The list below is alphabetical and is not a ranking:
- AMMS, from Asseco Poland
- CGM CLININET, from CompuGroup Medical Polska
- Eskulap, from Nexus Polska
- systems from KAMSOFT
- Optimed NXT, from Mednow
Clinics and consulting rooms also use practice management systems such as Asseco mMedica and MyDr, as well as Optimed NXT Cloud.
The choice of system depends on the size of the hospital, the range of services, integrations with existing software and the cost of running it.
Optimed NXT: the system we implement most often
Optimed NXT runs in a web browser on Windows, Linux and macOS computers. A hospital can run it on its own server, and clinics and consulting rooms can use the cloud version, Optimed NXT Cloud. Its modules include registration, hospital admissions, wards, orders, pharmacy, EDM and NFZ billing. The system is developed and sold by Mednow.
We have implemented Optimed NXT since 2024. During implementations we work directly with the vendor’s team, so anything that needs a change in the system reaches the right people. The scope of our work and the price are described on our Optimed NXT implementation page.
HIS implementation with Conetso Healthcare
We configure Optimed NXT, move the data from the previous program and train your staff, and after go-live we provide post-implementation support. We also implement Asseco mMedica. We are a partner of Mednow (Optimed NXT), KAMSOFT and Radpoint (RIS and PACS), and we sell, implement and service their systems. We help you choose a system, prepare the infrastructure and connect the HIS with diagnostic departments and the laboratory.
If you are planning to implement or replace a HIS, get in touch. We will start by talking about how your team works.
Legal status as of 9 November 2026.
