In the Oracle universe, when applying a Release Update patch, the DBA has to run "opatch" to patch the binaries and library files but also has to run a separate "datapatch" to update the data dictionary with SQL "Apply" Actions in each database.
In what seems to be a contrast, SQL Server patching requires only execution of the Patch exe file. Does that mean that no SQL "Apply" Actions are required ? See how it is done in SQL Server in my other blog post.