Absence of online tool hits Maharashtra hospital services hard – ET HealthWorld

Mumbai: Day-to-day operations at the state’s 16 medical colleges and hospitals continue to be severely disrupted because of the unavailability of the online tool for registration and uploading of patient treatment data.

Nearly four months since the Health Management Information System (HMIS) was abruptly disconnected in the middle of the night, the medical education department has failed to find an alternative.

The absence of HMIS has added to the woes of lakhs of patients who visit public medical colleges, and the staffers are forced to work manually. Doctors at the state’s biggest medical college and hospital, JJ in Byculla, said they had gone back by nearly 15 years. The online tool for registering patients by creating a unique ID was first piloted in JJ Hospital in 2008 and since then rolled out to more colleges across Maharashtra. However, since July 5, all operations went back to being paper-based.

The patients are bearing the brunt more than the rest. Right from registration for outpatient departments to tracking patient reports, everything is manual now. A senior doctor said that patients have to run around to collect reports from multiple departments, which used to be available to the doctors at the click of a mouse on the HMIS software. “We write multiple blood tests and radiological investigations before any major surgery. These reports were uploaded on HMIS. However, clerks now have to spend hours scouting piles of reports as relatives run between departments to collect them. It also increases chances of misplacing,” said the surgeon, adding that combined with vacant posts of grade-III & IV staffers in the hospital, the situation is turning difficult.

The unavailability of the HMIS software also adds to the cost of hospitals, adding one of the deans. “Previously, digital x-ray reports were uploaded on the software. But since July, we have been investing in films again,” said the hospital head, who added that the government should provide a solution sooner. One of the doctors pointed out that volumes of patient data were saved on the previous software. A physician from Government Medical College, Nagpur said academic research has also taken a beating since students can no longer refer to clinical data for writing papers.

RD Nivatkar, functioning as commissioner of medical education, told the media agency that the department is examining the issue and looking for a solution. “The matter is sub judice. But as far as easing the problems of patients are concerned, we are trying to look at solutions,” he said. The HMIS provider (M/s EIT services private Limited) had allegedly stopped the services over unpaid dues to the tune of Rs 100 crore.