Kejriwal bats for international standard healthcare in Delhi govt hospitals

Delhi CM has asked the health department to virtually connect all government hospitals, polyclinics and mohalla clinics in Delhi. There will also be a system to access real-time information on availability of doctors and medicines

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal directed the health department on Wednesday to create a management system of “international standard” that can connect all the Delhi government hospitals, polyclinics and mohalla clinics and provide “360-degree facilities” to the patient.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“Developing the system would include computerising all records — like number of beds and ventilators available at the hospital, number of pharmacy counters, and availability of other equipment,” said a senior official from the health department.

“Apart from that, the data on the vacancy of beds and ventilators or dialysis machines, availability of medicines, the functionality of an equipment have to be updated to the system on a real-time basis,” the official said.

Online and telephonic appointments, real-time data on the availability of doctors, medicines and ventilators would all be integrated into the system proposed during a review meeting of the health department on Wednesday.

The system would also include facilities like redesigning existing infrastructure and refurbishing drugs and consumables in the wards, OPDs and hospital pharmacies.

“Directed Health dept today to develop most modern hospital Management Information System of international standards to integrate all Del govt hospitals, Moh clinics n polyclinics,” the chief minister tweeted on Wednesday.

The health department is currently in the process of identifying parameters that will need to be integrated into the system. “At first, we will start with efficient management of the hospitals, so most of the data will be for the hospitals and the health department. Then we will look at integrating the patient facilities to it,” an official of the health department informed.

The health department will soon be contacting private IT companies to help build the modern health information management system, the official added.