Soon, register online for OPDs at govt hospitals

Tribune News Service, Dehradun, August 17

Long queues at the registration counters in government hospitals will soon be a thing of the past as the Uttarakhand Government plans to introduce online registration for OPDs at district hospitals shortly.

The facility is part of the Central Government’s e-hospital registration drive during which patients can make online appointments prior to consulting the doctor.

On any given day, there is a mad rush of patients at the Doon Hospital’s registration counters for OPD slips. Thus, patients coming from far-off places have to set aside at least two days from their schedule to meet up the formalities of getting themselves examined at the government hospitals.

But, with the launch of the online registration for OPDs, patients would be able to register themselves at the hospital websites for a visit to various departments on a chosen date.

“For the greater ease of patients, the Uttarakhand Government will soon launch the online registration for OPDs in all government hospitals,” said Dr RP Bhatt, Director General (DG), Health.

Along with providing comfort to the patients, the new initiative will help validate the demographic details given by patients at the counter. It would help in preventing duplicity of patient records, especially Unique Health Identification number.

Further, in the long run, the state could aspire for a single portal across Uttarakhand for patient-centric services.

“Initially, the service will begin with OPD appointments, making payments, viewing online reports, checking blood availability etc,” said Dr Bhatt.

The software would be provided by NIC, which has also launched an android Aadhaar base KYC service.

Significantly, the entire process would also reduce the burden on the clerical staff.

“The online entries are less time consuming. It takes only a few seconds to issue an OPD card to a pre-registered patient but more than 10 minutes for a regular patient. There are also fewer chances of mistakes in online registration,” said a hospital official.

However, for the success on any new initiative, much would depend on the interest shown by the general public and the government’s commitment to give it a push.