PGIMER to unveil Smart Navigation App by year-end

In a media interaction today, PGIMER director Prof Vivek Lal unveiled a transformative roadmap aimed at revolutionising patient care and hospital operations. The centrepiece of this vision is a cutting-edge mobile application, developed in collaboration with C-DAC Noida, set to launch by the end of this year.

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The app will feature real-time indoor navigation, QR code-based patient identification, and intelligent crowd management tools to streamline hospital movement and minimise wait times. “This app will transform how we serve our patients and manage hospital systems,” said Prof Lal, calling it a leap towards patient-centric healthcare.

The event also highlighted PGIMER’s broader digital transformation journey, including full digitisation of its Hospital Information System, improving transparency in processes like medicine procurement under Ayushman Bharat. He detailed the Rs 987 crore Sarangpur Project, which will include a 100-seat medical college, high-capacity OPDs, a 200-bed emergency block, and modern amenities like a staff swimming pool and a doctors’ cafeteria.

To address increasing patient load, especially in emergency care, Prof Lal announced the recruitment of 300 ex-servicemen to boost campus security, along with the appointment of 82 faculty members adhering to DoPT and EWS norms.

He also spotlighted Project Sarathi, PGIMER’s pioneering NSS-led patient navigation initiative, now expanded to 1,467 hospitals nationwide under MyBharat.gov.in. The director reaffirmed the institute’s commitment to affordable care, with AMRIT stores fulfilling 85 per cent of medicine demand and a new pharmacy coming near the Emergency Block.

The upcoming Advanced Neurosciences Centre OPD is set to begin operations within three months, and extended OT hours have already led to a 30-40 per cent rise in surgical procedures.

He also commended the Operation Sindoor team for their outstanding humanitarian response during the Jammu & Kashmir crisis, describing their service as “beyond the call of duty”.

He affirmed, “Every initiative — digital, structural or social — is rooted in easing patient suffering and ensuring equitable, quality care. We are building PGIMER for tomorrow, with the patient at the heart of everything we do.”