Chandigarh: In around seven months, premier medical institute PGI will have the country’s first complex integrated system of software for patient care in which registrations, appointment bookings, test reports, sample collection, accounts, and HR wiil be fully automated. However, each system will roll out in a phased manner.
This is under the Hospital Information System 2 (HIS 2) that will take off this month after an MoU with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) is signed.
The CDAC will provide the integrated software. “There is no such model in the country with such a complex and integrated software system where there are over 50 departments and diverse patient workflow,” said Prof Vivek Lal, director, PGI.
The PGI has started process of buying hardware for its HIS 2, while for software, it is being developed by the CDAC. Besides online system, there will be clinicians’ and patients’ Android/IOS based applications where report, medical history, patient record, discharge summary and medicine prescription will be available with a unique patient ID. Previous records will also be accessible.
Sources said over Rs 20 crore will be spent on servers alone to be stationed at PGI itself. “We will not rely on any third party server for the data. But we are still not certain about how the system will be integrated by the CDAC. There can be one system for one department or all might be clubbed. But the outcome will be complete automation of the patient care in the OPD and in-patient department (admitted patients),” said a faculty member.
“Almost a year from now, suffering of patients and the waiting period will come down. Simple digital machines for payment have significantly reduced paying hassles at all 40 counters of PGI,” said Prof Lal.
The HIS 2 will be challenging after it becomes operational, according to experts. “Different departments here function uniquely. The medicine department, for instance, refers patients to other departments, while non-clinical departments like microbiology, histopathology and biochemistry collect samples.
So, the work flow is variable and the same digital platform, once applied to diverse departments, will take a while for doctors to get adjusted,” said a faculty member. Once data is collected after software is operational, the electronic health record and AI applications will be started under separate projects.