TCM clinics
Take the history, read the tongue and pulse, mark the acupoints, dispense a formula, deduct herb stock and use up a course session, all in one visit. Open another branch and it shares the same patient records on the same account.
Short answer
Good TCM clinic software records a Chinese medicine consultation on one screen (tongue, pulse, pattern diagnosis, acupoints and the herbal formula) and carries it through to herb stock, course sessions and doctor fees without anyone typing it twice. SyncEdge Clinic does all of that from ฿990 a month including VAT, with doctor fees on every tier and withholding tax from the Starter tier at ฿2,490, and a 2-month free trial.
The doctor dots points onto a body outline and scribbles a note beside it. When the patient sees a colleague, or the same doctor opens the file three months later, someone has to guess which point each dot was.
One formula can call for a dozen herbs, each weighed in grams per pack. A clinic that tracks stock in a notebook or a spreadsheet usually finds out a herb has run out at the dispensing counter, or after the reorder window has passed.
TCM patients often prepay for a run of acupuncture or tuina sessions, and staff keep the remaining count in their heads. One shift change or one missed appointment and the number no longer matches.
Thai regulations require a clinic to keep treatment records in checkable condition for at least five years. Paper files sorted by date take up space and go missing, and the moment a page leaves the building it becomes a PDPA problem.
The front desk registers the patient, issues a queue number and notes the chief complaint at check-in, so the doctor opens the visit already knowing why the patient came. Staff book the next appointment from the patient's record.
The TCM screen has tabs for the ten questions (十问), the tongue by colour, shape and coating, the overall pulse plus all six positions on both wrists, the eight principles (八纲), the pattern and the nine constitution types (九型体质), then the treatment principle (治法). Every field saves as you type, and an ICD-10 code can sit beside the TCM diagnosis when a document needs one.
Tap points on the meridian chart and each one is saved to the visit with its WHO code, such as LI4 or ST36. There are 17 charts: the meridians from the front, back and both sides, plus the scalp, face, ears, hands, feet and tongue. Stamps for needling, moxibustion, cupping and gua sha (针 灸 罐 刮) go straight onto the chart. The points print on the visit summary, and the charts lock when the visit closes.
Build a formula in grams per pack as a decoction, powder, tea or granules, with the number of packs, packs per day, boiling times and preparation notes such as 先煎 and 后下. Save the formulas you use often as your own template or the clinic's, or start from the patient's last formula. The system warns on the 十八反 incompatible pairs and checks the patient's recorded allergies, then prints an A5 prescription and label from the same screen.
Each herb carries its Chinese name, pinyin, Thai name, and price and cost per gram, and the list imports from CSV. Goods receipts record lot numbers and expiry dates. When the doctor closes the visit, stock comes off in grams (formula times packs), earliest-expiring lot first. If the system shows too little stock, the line is held for follow-up instead of stopping the counter.
Set up a course such as ten acupuncture sessions, with a validity period in days. The patient record shows how many sessions remain, staff deduct one with a click, and an expired course can't be used. Courses work at every branch on the account, can be shared with another patient such as a family member, and come with a report of open and soon-to-expire courses.
Set fee rules as a percentage or a fixed amount, per doctor, per service or per course session, and each doctor can see their own earnings, on every tier. Starter adds tiers, withholding tax at each payee's rate and a withholding-tax certificate for every payout.
When a doctor's licence number starts with พจ., the certificate is titled ใบรับรองแพทย์แผนจีน (TCM medical certificate) and states the Chinese medicine healing-arts licence number. It won't issue without a licence number. Certificate numbers run per branch per month without repeats, and a certificate can only be voided with a reason.
Consent forms are kept per purpose, including TCM treatment and photography. Each is stored as the exact version the patient signed, and a withdrawal is recorded. Every edit goes into the audit log, and views of sensitive data such as national ID numbers are logged too. Included from Solo.
Two laws apply to a Chinese medicine clinic in Thailand: one licenses the practitioner, the other licenses the premises. Before the first patient you need at least three licences: a healing-arts licence for each TCM practitioner, and two licences for the clinic itself.
Chinese medicine became a branch of the healing arts under the Healing Arts Practice Act B.E. 2542 (1999) by a Royal Decree of B.E. 2552 (2009). To register, a practitioner needs a degree or equivalent in Chinese medicine from an institution the Chinese Medicine Professional Committee recognises, and must pass the committee's examination. A foreign graduate who is not a Thai national must also hold permission to practise Chinese medicine in the country where they studied. Applications go through Biz Portal, and the licence is signed electronically by the director of the Department of Health Service Support (DHSS) division that registers clinics and healing-arts practitioners, together with the committee chair.
The clinic itself falls under the Sanatorium Act B.E. 2541 (1998). The owner needs a licence to operate it (section 16), and the practitioner in charge needs a licence to manage it (section 24). Section 25 requires the manager to be a licensed practitioner of a type the ministerial regulations allow, able to supervise the clinic closely, and managing no more than two facilities. That last rule matters if you plan branches: a third branch needs a second manager.
| Licence | Issued to | Law | Where to apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healing arts, Chinese medicine branch | Each TCM practitioner | Healing Arts Practice Act B.E. 2542 and the Royal Decree of B.E. 2552 | Biz Portal; issued by DHSS |
| Operating the clinic (ส.พ.7) | The clinic owner, a person or a company | Sanatorium Act B.E. 2541, section 16 | DHSS in Bangkok; the provincial public health office elsewhere |
| Managing the clinic (ส.พ.19) | The practitioner in charge of the clinic | Sanatorium Act B.E. 2541, sections 24 and 25 | Same application as ส.พ.7, issued together |
The clinic licences take time. The DHSS operating manual runs from approval of the establishment plan through a site inspection, a subcommittee and the sanatorium committee to the signed licences: 67 working days in total, counted from the day the documents are complete. Build that into your opening plan.
On records, DHSS restated on 14 May 2024 that a ministerial regulation of B.E. 2545 (2002) requires patient and treatment documents to be kept in checkable condition for at least five years from the date they were made. Breaking it carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to ฿20,000, or both, and records that are kept but then leak can also breach the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019).
For software, that means every visit has to be searchable for at least five years, and every edit has to show who changed what and when. SyncEdge Clinic records every edit in its audit log, and logs views of sensitive data such as national ID numbers and photos.
This section covers only what the official documents below support. Check the current requirements with DHSS or your provincial public health office before you apply.
Official sources (in Thai)
An outpatient record in a Chinese medicine clinic has two jobs: show what the doctor found, and show what was done about it. If the next doctor can't answer both from the file, it won't help the next visit. The table lists the items we recommend and where each one lives in SyncEdge Clinic.
| Item | What to record | In SyncEdge Clinic |
|---|---|---|
| Patient details | Name, hospital number (HN), age, drug and herb allergies | One HN sequence for the whole company; allergies stored encrypted and checked at dispensing |
| Chief complaint | What brought the patient in, for how long, and what helps or worsens it | Noted at check-in and shown on the doctor's screen |
| Ten questions 十问 | Cold and heat, sweating, appetite, sleep, bowels and the rest of the ten questions | A ten-question tab on the TCM screen |
| Tongue 舌诊 | Body colour, shape and coating | Colour, shape and coating fields, plus a tongue chart to draw on |
| Pulse 脉诊 | Overall quality, and 寸 关 尺 on both wrists | Overall pulse and the six positions |
| Diagnosis | Eight-principle findings, the pattern (证), and an ICD-10 code when a document needs one | Pattern differentiation on the TCM screen, ICD-10 in the same visit |
| Treatment principle 治法 | The principle and methods chosen | A treatment-principle field when ordering treatment |
| Acupuncture and procedures | Points used, the side, and other procedures such as moxibustion or cupping | Points picked on the chart with WHO codes; procedure stamps on the chart |
| Herbal prescription | Formula name, each herb in grams, the form, number of packs, and how to boil or take it | Grams per pack; prescription and label print from the same screen |
| Vital signs | Blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, weight and pain level | Vital-sign fields, including a 0 to 10 pain score |
| Practitioner and consent | Doctor's name and licence number, and the patient's consent | Each visit is tied to its doctor; licence numbers sit on the doctor's profile; consent is kept by version |
This is the practice we recommend from how TCM clinics work, not an item-by-item list set by law. What the law does set is the five-year retention in the section above. If you're still on paper, you can lay out your OPD card this way today, and the move into a system later will map field for field.
Running a TCM clinic on paper files and Excel isn't wrong. The table compares the three options on the work a Chinese medicine clinic actually does. "Generic clinic software" means a system with no TCM screens, not any particular brand.
| Task | Excel or paper | Generic clinic software | SyncEdge Clinic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acupoints | Dots on a paper outline, or point names typed as text | No meridian chart, so text notes or an attached picture | Tap points on a chart; saved with WHO codes on each visit |
| Tongue, pulse and TCM diagnosis | Whatever form the clinic designed | One free-text notes field | Tongue, six-position pulse, eight principles and pattern fields |
| Herbal formulas | Handwritten prescription, priced by hand | Built for tablets and bottles, not grams per pack | Grams per pack, saved templates, last formula reused, 十八反 warnings |
| Herb stock | Counted by hand; gaps show up at dispensing | Depends on whether a herb can be stocked in grams | Deducted in grams at visit close, with lots, expiry and earliest-expiry first |
| Acupuncture courses | A notebook or a punch card | Many have packages; ask whether they work across branches | Sessions deducted from the patient record, with expiry, at every branch |
| Doctor fees | Added up in Excel at month end | Varies; ask whether withholding tax is handled | Rule-based on every tier; withholding tax and certificates from Starter |
| Five years of history | Paper fades, goes missing or gets mixed up | Searchable; ask whether there is an audit log | Searchable from the patient file; every edit in the audit log |
| Cost | No software fee, but staff time | Many sell annual plans; some quote prices before VAT | ฿990 / ฿2,490 / ฿5,990 a month incl. VAT; 2 months free |
Excel is still enough for one doctor, a handful of patients a day and a few ready-made remedies. The signs it's time to move: you start selling courses, you pay doctors a fee per case, or herbs keep running out mid-prescription.
If you do move, the import centre takes CSV or Excel files of patients, suppliers, opening stock and remaining course sessions, checks each file before importing, and handles up to 500 rows per import. The herb list has its own CSV import.
Solo ฿990 (basic doctor fees) · Starter ฿2,490 (advanced doctor fees with withholding tax) · Pro ฿5,990 (3 branches; each extra ฿990 a month or ฿9,900 a year) · Enterprise is quoted to scope. Seats come with the tier: 8 on Solo, 20 on Starter, 20 per branch on Pro. Nothing is billed per head. Sign yourself up and try it free for 2 months, no credit card required.
See pricing and packagesFrom ฿990 a month including VAT on Solo, which already has the TCM screen, the acupoint charts and herbal dispensing. Solo also pays doctor fees as a percentage or a fixed amount; clinics that withhold tax on those fees and approve payouts in rounds take Starter at ฿2,490, and clinics with several branches take Pro at ฿5,990. Enterprise is quoted to scope. Every tier has a 2-month free trial with no credit card.
Yes. You choose the TCM clinic type at signup on any tier, and Solo already has the TCM screen, body charts, herbal dispensing, stock, courses, medical certificates and basic doctor fees. Higher tiers add advanced doctor fees with withholding tax (Starter) and multiple branches with stock transfers between them (Pro).
Tap the points on the meridian chart in the visit, and each is saved to that visit with its WHO code, such as LI4 or ST36. There are 17 charts, from the meridians to the ears, hands, feet and tongue, with stamps for needling, moxibustion, cupping and gua sha. All the points appear on the printed visit summary.
Yes. Lot numbers and expiry dates are recorded when herbs are received. When the doctor closes the visit, stock is deducted in grams (formula times packs) from the earliest-expiring lot first. Included from Solo.
Yes. Set up a course with its number of sessions and validity period. The patient record shows the sessions left, staff deduct one at a time, and an expired course can't be used. Courses work at every branch on the account. Included from Solo.
At least five years from the date each record was made, under a ministerial regulation of B.E. 2545 (2002) that the Department of Health Service Support restated in May 2024. Breaking it carries up to one year in prison, a fine of up to ฿20,000, or both.
At least three: a Chinese medicine healing-arts licence for each practitioner, a licence for the owner to operate the clinic, and a licence for the practitioner in charge to manage it. The last two are issued under the Sanatorium Act B.E. 2541. In Bangkok you apply to the Department of Health Service Support; elsewhere, to the provincial public health office.
