PGI’s new Hospital Information System set for pilot run in November

For around 20 years, the institute has been using the HIS 1.0 for records, data entry, registration, and software updates. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) had already submitted a proposal for the upgraded software project that would include new features, like a mobile app for accessing hospital services, QR code systems for registration by scanning instead of standing in long queues, and an app to access hospital services.

The priority is to reduce rush, so apart from patient registration and demographics, appointments in different time slots to ease rush during peak hours are vital. Also, the new system will help in scheduling appointments, storing information of patients digitally, and also billing, saving the patients from going to various counters to pay bills and do financial transactions.

Professor Sameer Aggarwal from the PGIMER’s Department of Orthopaedics, who is also the vice-president of the Post Graduate Institute Faculty Association Committee, says that the HIS 2.0 will be a “game-changer” for the institute, for it will be a two-way communication between patients and doctors, as with the click of a button and the card number, a doctor can access all health records of a patient, with reports, X-rays all accessible. Instead of seeing X-rays, scans, and medical reports on WhatsApp, which lacks clarity, the software will help doctors view these on their computers, and e-files and records will help research, Aggarwal added.

At the Advanced Eye Centre, PGIMER, patients who register online in advance for the outpatient department (OPD) are given priority. Booking online appointments helps in queue management, decongesting the OPD in the morning hours, and streamlining the process of registration.

With the success of the first-time patients using the system, which enables one to make an appointment seven days in advance, the department is now all set to introduce a QR code for ease of registration for appointments.

The HIS 2.0 will help patients register wherever they are, and with a deposit of Rs 10, a card number will be generated. A printout will be proof of registration, and the patient does not have to go to the counter and be in a queue for the same. The institute, after the pilot run, strives to implement the HIS 2.0 early in the new year, to benefit both patients and the institute’s overburdened system.