e-Health services gain momentum in Kottayam

Long hours of waiting in government hospitals may soon be a thing of the past in Kottayam district as the e-Health system, designed to streamline hospital services from obtaining outpatient (OP) tickets to completing consultations and billing, has already been implemented in more than half of the district’s government hospitals.

Currently, e-Health services are available in 45 centres out of 88 hospitals in the district, from medical college hospitals to primary health centres. According to Health department officials, the facility will be implemented in nine more places this year.

“A total of 38 hospitals have transitioned to a paperless environment. Using the Unique Health Identification Number (UHID), patients can avail various services. This includes, obtaining OP tickets, scheduling doctor visits, receiving medicines, accessing nursing-lab services and getting disease information all in a digital format,” said an official.

Patients will also receive doctor’s notes directly on their mobile devices. Furthermore, the implementation of e-POS machines for bill payments has been established in 27 locations. To date, the e-Health system has facilitated 1.13 crore patient visits in the district, with 1,648,744 individuals registered with a UHID.

The e-Health system was launched in the district in July 2018 at Kottayam Government Medical College Hospital. After seven years, Kottayam district now ranks eighth in the State for e-Health services. The project has been implemented in half of the 60 family health centres and has made great progress at the primary level.

District Medical Officer N. Priya said that e-Health will be implemented across all hospitals in the district in a timely manner.

The Vazhoor, Meenachil and Kuravilangad family health centres, where e-health was first implemented in the district five years ago, are in the top three positions respectively in the State-level rankings.

The e-Health system has also been implemented in major treatment centres such as the Institute of Child Health (ICH) in Kottayam as well as general hospitals in Kottayam, Kanjirappally and Pala, and Pampady taluk headquarters hospital. It is in the initial stage at Kuravilangad and Vaikom taluk headquarters hospitals.

Linto Lazar, Ardram nodal officer and e-Health district coordinator, said the steps to implement this health system are in the final stage in various other hospitals such as the Manimala, Thalanad, Aymanam, Onamthuruthu, Vizhikkathodu, Poonjar GV Raja Family Health Centres, the Arunoottimangalam and Erumely Community Health Centres, and District TB Center.

The estimated cost of setting up the e-health system at the primary health centre level is around ₹10 lakh. This is to set up computers and related equipment and connectivity systems at the registration counter, consulting room, nursing station, lab, and pharmacy. Currently, e-Health is being implemented using State government funds, with a proposal in place to expand the project through local body funds. This expansion will also allocate resources for ongoing maintenance and additional activities.