Requisition to purchase order is the short path that most clinics walk without documenting, and it is the path that auditors and provincial college reviewers ask about when they want to see how a supply decision was made. The sequence itself is simple: someone identifies a need, someone with authority approves it, and a purchase order carries the commitment. What matters is the record at each step.
Three sentences of answer: a requisition records a need, a purchase order records an authorised commitment, and the two should be linkable by a number. Clinics that keep requisitions and purchase orders in the same file can answer a reviewer's cost question in minutes, and clinics that do not often reconstruct it from email.
What is the difference between a requisition and a purchase order?
A requisition is an internal request. It says what is needed, why, in what quantity, by when, and who is asking. It carries no commitment to a supplier and usually no price certainty.
A purchase order is an external commitment. It names the supplier, the catalogue number, the unit, the quantity, the agreed price and the delivery expectation, and it is issued by someone with the authority to bind the clinic.
Confusing the two is a common small-practice problem. A requisition emailed to a supplier is not a purchase order, and when the invoice arrives at a different price than the requisition assumed, there is nothing in writing to resolve it with.
What should a clinic requisition contain?
The useful minimum is requester, date, clinical justification, item and quantity, required-by date, cost centre or budget line, and approval signature or record. The clinical justification is the field clinics most often omit, and it is the field that makes a later cost question answerable.
For items that depend on a validated process, the requisition should name the specification rather than the brand alone. A request for "sterilization pouches" is not specific enough to prevent a substitution that breaks cycle validation.
| Field | Requisition | Purchase order |
|---|---|---|
| Who raises it | The requester, frequently clinical | An authorised buyer |
| What it states | Need, quantity, required-by, justification | Supplier, catalogue number, unit, price, delivery |
| Commitment created | None | Binding on both parties |
| Price certainty | Usually an estimate | Agreed price record |
| Record retention | With the cost centre file | With the receipt and invoice |
How should the two documents be linked?
Put the requisition number on the purchase order, and the purchase order number on the packing slip and the invoice at receiving. That single cross-reference is what turns three loose documents into one auditable trail.
Where a clinic uses software, this happens automatically. Where it uses paper or email, a numbering convention is enough: a date prefix and a sequence, written on every related document. The convention matters more than the format.
For multi-site groups, the numbering should identify the site as well as the sequence, so a reviewer can trace an item from one site's requisition to the consolidated purchase order without guessing.
What do reviewers actually look for?
They look for three things: that spending was authorised, that the price paid matched the price agreed, and that the item received matched the item ordered. Those three questions map exactly onto the requisition, the purchase order and the receiving record.
A clinic that can answer all three for any line in its supply history is in good shape regardless of whether the paperwork is digital or on paper. A clinic that can answer only the third is exposed on the first two.
Six months of clean records is usually enough to demonstrate a working process. Start by adding the requisition number to the purchase order on the next order, and the rest of the trail follows.
Where the order is placed at case quantity, the documentation trail is shorter because there are fewer orders to reconcile. B2B wholesale lines are stocked for institutional buyers, and wholesale and multi-site ordering covers case pricing and account setup.
Related reading
Vendor scorecards for clinic supply: metrics worth tracking each quarter · Sampling plans for incoming goods: AQL and case-level checks · Product substitution notices: how a clinic should evaluate an unannounced swap
Hub: Wholesale and institutional ordering
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a requisition the same as a purchase order?
No. A requisition is an internal request with no commitment attached. A purchase order is an external commitment issued by someone with authority to bind the clinic to a price and quantity.
What should a clinic requisition include?
Requester, date, clinical justification, item with specification, quantity, required-by date, budget line and approval record. The justification field is the one that makes later cost questions answerable.
How do I link requisitions to purchase orders?
Print the requisition number on the purchase order and the purchase order number on the packing slip and invoice. A date-prefixed sequence number is enough for a paper or email process.
What do reviewers check in a supply audit?
Three things: that spending was authorised, that the price paid matched the price agreed, and that the item received matched the item ordered. Those map to the requisition, the purchase order and the receiving record.
CliniEco Medical is a licensed medical device establishment (MDEL #35334).
0 commentaire