Cell and tissue therapy management runs on chain-of-custody documentation that most clinical case management systems aren't designed to capture. The tissue collected from a patient on a specific date and time, processed into a therapeutic product at a specific production facility, and applied to a specific treatment site — each step in that sequence needs to be documented with timestamps that link back to the original patient record. A gap anywhere in that chain creates a traceability problem that affects both clinical accountability and regulatory compliance.
The Tissue and Production Chain
Type of tissue collected, Sample collection date, and Sample collection time are the collection documentation fields. The tissue type determines the downstream processing protocol; the collection timestamp is the reference point for cold-chain management, processing window calculations, and viability assessment. For autologous cell therapies — where the patient's own tissue is collected, processed, and re-administered — the collection timestamp also starts the clock on the patient's preparation for application.
Therapy production date, Therapy production time, and Place of production document the manufacturing event. A therapy produced at a GMP-certified facility on a specific date has different regulatory standing than one produced outside that framework. The production timestamp creates the chain of custody link between sample collection and therapy readiness — the interval between collection and production completion informs both the clinical planning and the quality control record.
# of applications and Therapy applied to the document the treatment protocol — how many application sessions and the anatomical target. Some cell therapy protocols require staged applications over multiple visits; others are single-event. The application site field adds anatomical specificity that "injection site" or "affected area" doesn't capture adequately for a follow-up assessment comparing outcomes across patients treated at different sites.
The Clinical and Referral Context
Condition treated with Therapy describes the indication-treatment pair. Cell therapies are applied across a range of conditions — cartilage repair, wound healing, oncology applications, regenerative medicine for specific tissue damage. The condition-therapy mapping in the record allows outcome analysis across patient populations and helps identify which conditions respond best to which specific protocols.
Doctor, Doctor's specialty, and Doctor's affiliation (hospital) create the referral and treating physician record. In a private cell therapy practice, the referring physician is both the clinical partner and the business relationship. Notes and outcomes shared back to the referring physician support the referral relationship. The hospital affiliation matters for coordination when the patient undergoes preparatory or follow-up treatment in a hospital setting alongside the cell therapy protocol.
Financial Tracking
Cost, Amount paid, Balance, Date of payment, and Type of payment with Invoice create the accounts receivable record for each patient. Cell therapy at private clinics operates on a payment model where the total cost is often spread across deposit, treatment confirmation, and post-application settlement stages. Balance is the live receivable — the amount still owed after partial payments are applied.
Invoice links to the billing document. In Greek healthcare, VAT compliance and invoice documentation requirements mean the invoice record isn't optional — it's the document that supports tax reporting and any health insurance reimbursement claim the patient may pursue with supplementary private insurance.
Notes and Comments at both the clinical and billing level handle the case-specific context that structured fields can't fully accommodate: the patient who required a protocol modification due to a pre-existing condition, the payment arrangement negotiated for a specific case, the follow-up observation that doesn't fit a standard clinical field.