PGI plans electronic prescription, e-pharmacy to ease patient load

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, March 15

In a move aimed at decongesting patient load in OPDs, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here is working on possibility to create an online module for prescription.

PGI entered into agreement with CDAC for implementation of Hospital Information System (HIS 2.0) to streamline and decongest the patient rush at the OPD, thereby providing respite to patients and doctors alike.

According to the plan, the electronic prescription and its dispensing through e-pharmacy will be in complete online mode. Under this, the doctor will generate the prescription electronically and it will be automatically be sent to pharmacies. Prof Vivek Lal, PGIMER Director, said: “It will facilitate much better patient care and ensure quality distribution of medicines.”

It has been decided that all options of patient registration and online prescription of medicines would be run on a pilot basis in staff clinic. Based on the pros and cons learnt from staff clinic, these functionalities would be rolled-out to the other OPDs.

PGIMER Deputy Director Administration Pankaj Rai has directed that a team of PGIMER should visit a hospital, largest in terms of beds and busiest in terms of OPD patients’ in-flow where most of the modules of CDAC’s HIS have been successfully implemented.

CDAC will provide name of such hospitals. CDAC has also been asked to submit a roadmap for implementation of HIS 2.0.

Rai also directed that the registration process should be made simpler and patient friendly. The whole objective of the implementation of HIS 2.2 should be based on simpler workflows that maximises benefits not only to users of HIS, but also to patients, he said.

It has been decided that the patient registration process should be easy using multiple options such as ‘online registration’ of the patient (new and re-visit) through mobile app and through ‘walk-in’ patient registration at registration desk.

Queue Management System (QMS) module will reduce patient queues outside OPD rooms and it will also generate tokens for queue management in the HIS.