Latest news with #MukhyamantriDigitalHealthYojana
Time of India
05-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
State begins tech-driven overhaul of health services under
Ranchi: Jharkhand has begun introducing a series of tech-driven reforms in healthcare services aimed at improving accessibility, transparency and efficiency. In this regard, the state-run hospitals are now incorporating QR codes in patient reports, their payments, online medical records, and digital receipt systems. Further, the health department has also rolled out a comprehensive digital initiative to modernise public healthcare under the Mukhyamantri Digital Health Yojana, with the govt approving an estimated outlay of Rs 299.30 crore over five years (2025–26 to 2029–30). Under the scheme, all health institutions are being equipped with high-speed internet, Wi-Fi, enhanced IT hardware like high-end computers, printers, biometric scanners and ABHA card scanners. The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing has been roped in to implement the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) across the state. Additionally, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is responsible for providing Managed Wi-Fi and Internet Leased Line (ILL) services in 562 health institutions under an operating expense model for the next five years. Talking to TOI, additional chief secretary (health) Ajoy Kumar Singh said, "The initiative is designed to make healthcare services more accessible, efficient, affordable and equitable by integrating advanced digital technology. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo Emphasising the vision of a welfare state, the scheme aligns with the objectives of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) and promotes the use of technology to deliver quality healthcare services, especially in rural and remote areas. " Moreover, a command and control centre equipped with CCTV surveillance will be established at the state headquarters, medical colleges and all district hospitals. A central dashboard integrating health information management, enhanced recovery protocol, combined symptoms and medication score and electronic health records will also be developed for real-time monitoring and policy planning. The scheme sets out multiple objectives such as implementing Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission standards, enabling telemedicine, automating diagnostic services, streamlining hospital operations, and ensuring real-time data management. It also aims to offer 24x7 emergency consultations and digital referrals to higher medical centres. The implementation will follow a structured timeline. Joint secretary Bidyanand Sharma Pankaj said, "In the first year, digital health infrastructure will be installed in all medical colleges and district hospitals. In the second year, the focus will shift to sub-divisional hospitals, community health centres, and primary health centres, while subsequent years will focus on capacity building and maintenance. " Doctors have also expressed support for the initiative, saying technology and AI would significantly assist them in their work. Dr Vijay Mishra, the director at the Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Hospital, said, "Technology and digitisation have already made a big leap in diagnostics, especially in ophthalmology and internal medicine. It helps doctors reach quicker and more accurate conclusions." Dr Gagan Gunjan of the emergency department at Rims, said, "Digitisation is becoming the next big revolution in healthcare just like penicillin once was. From OPD to complex decision-making, it's transforming how we treat and interact with patients." Dr Vivek Kumar David, an orthopaedist at Paras Hospital, said, "Technology combined brings unmatched precision in surgeries. It guides surgical cuts and implant placement better than the human eye ever could." Meanwhile, a total of 54 technical experts and additional staff will be hired through contractual arrangements to augment the state's healthcare. An annual budget of Rs 15 crore has been allocated for human resources and Rs 10 crore for training and awareness for over five years. The state govt has also approved a budget of Rs 4921.28 lakh for IT hardware, Rs 11,711.78 lakh for wifFi infrastructure, Rs 2385.87 lakh for HMIS implementation, Rs 7052.19 lakh for CCTV-based control centres, and Rs 1359.6 lakh for the development and operation of the central monitoring dashboard. Moreover, Ranchi sadar hospital has already implemented a QR code-enabled system under its Laboratory Information and Management System (LIMS), and allows patients to access diagnostic reports online. Each sample vial will carry a QR code linked to patient details, making it possible to download reports from home without revisiting the hospital.
The Print
10-06-2025
- Health
- The Print
Bihar's quiet digital revolution: At govt hospitals, 91% of patient registrations are now paperless
The number of users of this feature stood at a mere 4 percent in April 2024. The facility, Scan and Share, under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), was launched in 2021 and has now been rolled out widely in public hospitals for outpatient department (OPD) registration in the state. It is aimed at solving the problem of long queues at health facilities and entry of incomplete and inaccurate data by patients. Patna/ New Delhi: Over 91 percent of patients who walked into a government hospital in Bihar this May used a QR code to share their demographic details and health records, before seeing a doctor. The turning point, state health department officials said, was a decision taken by top health administrators to harness the features of Centre's ABDM and Mukhyamantri Digital Health Yojana (MDHY) in order to streamline the entire hospital journey for patients and ensure faster access to care. Bihar, show records shared by the state health department and authenticated by the Union health ministry, now ranks at the top nationally in paperless registrations at government hospitals. 'This adoption has reduced waiting time for the majority of the patients in the hospitals and enabled us to provide a more organised and transparent healthcare experience to them,' said Rajesh Kumar, administrative officer of the Bihar Health Society, who oversees the implementation of the project. In August last year, a patient had to wait 58 minutes on average in a hospital before seeing a doctor and spent an average of 70 minutes inside a facility. Last month, these figures stood at 35 minutes and 47 minutes respectively, according to data from the state health department. In the state, all 592 government facilities—from district hospital downwards—now facilitate electronic OPD registration, enabling patients to generate a unique health ID, the Ayushman Bharat Health Account or ABHA, that will contain their medical history in a longitudinal manner in the form of electronic health record (EHR), a key component of ABDM. The government is also maintaining a repository of healthcare personnel and health facilities in the form of the Health Facility Record and Health Personnel Record. The ABDM dashboard maintained by the National Health Authority (NHA), the agency under the Union health ministry, which implements the project, shows that the total number OPD registrations under the mission since its inception in 2021 stands at 11.41 crore. Of these, Bihar accounts for 2.95 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 2.26 crore. In Bihar, the implementation process has been supplemented by the launch of BHAVYA (Bihar Health Application Visionary Yojana for All)—as part of MDHY—which saw the roll out of the state's own health information management system The system integrates hospital workflows, digitises patient journeys, and enables evidence-based policy decisions by using real-time healthcare data and is being used to implement ABDM. Also Read: How Bihar is ramping up AB-PMJAY health infra to keep patients from turning to Delhi, Vellore First state to start a control & command centre In 2023, a Control and Command Centre was started in state capital Patna—later also replicated in Uttar Pradesh—to monitor healthcare facilities data maintained as part of the ABDM in real time. For instance, it is possible for state-level health authorities to see in real time whether a doctor is available to treat patients at a given time at a remote primary health centre. 'Real-time visibility enabled through digitisation has significantly strengthened the administrative efficiency and monitoring of healthcare services,' said an official. The statistics shared by the government said that the average first patient registration time has also advanced to 8:31 am last month compared to 8:41 am in August last year, reflecting improved punctuality. Manpower is now being utilised more efficiently, leading to improved operational effectiveness, while doctor consultation times have also improved, with enhanced presence and accountability at the facilities, officials of the state health department said. Nearly a year ago, the Centre also started real time monitoring of all Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU) in district hospitals. This, according to officials, was aimed at ensuring required treatment to newborns and reducing Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). Bihar, as per the Sample Registration Survey 2021 released by the Registrar General of India in May this year, recorded 27 infant deaths per thousand live births—exactly the same as the national average. But some public health activists ThePrint spoke with underlined that while the state was working on improving healthcare services, it was still a long way before it could compete with most developed states. 'In terms of infrastructure, resource deployment and adoption of digitisation, Bihar has come ahead remarkably over the last few years but the quality of services are still not up to mark in many government and private facilities,' said Navin Srivastava who is associated with Jan Swasthya Abhiyan in Bihar, a patient rights group. (Edited by Sanya Mathur) Also Read: Over 40% hospitals below district level lack basic diabetes, hypertension drugs—ICMR-WHO survey of 7 states
