NEW DELHI: In a move to transform the management of 695 railway hospitals and other health units and to offer seamless service to the patients, the Indian Railways has completed 100% coverage of web-based integrated health management services (IHMS) of all its health units across the country.
Nearly 42 lakh railway employees, pensioners and their family members have got the Unique Medical Identity (UMID) cards and can now directly register for OPD services by scanning the QR code pasted outside the doctor’s chamber using a mobile app and even check their queue number in the app.
The project will benefit over 75 lakh railwaymen, pensioners and their families, said Puneet Chawla, chairman and managing director of RailTel, a railway PSU, which has implemented it.
The IHMS is an integrated clinical information system that has been rolled out by the railways for improving the experience of patients. “This solution covers the entire gamut of hospital administration with around 25 modules that are relevant to railway hospitals including clinical, patient services and ancillary modules such as OPD, IPD, labs, pharmacy, referrals, medical examinations, sick-fit certifications and reimbursement of medical claims,” a RailTel spokesperson said.
He added that a mobile App has been in operation which enables beneficiaries for ‘self-registration’. They can use the App to check the availability of specialities, medicines and lab tests in any railway hospital before visiting. This ensures easy information access to patients related to their OPD registrations, doctor prescriptions and lab reports. An official said with this the patients have been empowered to get easy access to all their health records anytime they need them.
“The App also notifies the patient about availability of their test reports for download and medicines for collection. The IHMS customises clinical data according to the departments and laboratories, multi-hospital features that provide cross consultation, seamless interface with medical and other equipment,” the spokesperson said.
The new ecosystem also helps doctors in faster delivery of service with clinical knowledge support.
Officials said the in-patient Department (IPD) module has been implemented through which patients can be admitted and discharged and the entire clinical processes of drugs and procedures administered including generation of online discharge summary. “Processes related to referral management and sick-fit certification have also been enabled in the system for seamless administrative management,” said an official.