Govt tightens rules on referrals, directs govt hospitals to treat patients locally first

Patna: To strengthen govt healthcare services and reduce unnecessary referrals, the state health department has rolled out a new referral policy mandating govt hospitals to treat patients locally wherever possible, digitally track their treatment through the BHAVYA portal, and justify every referral with documented clinical reasons.The departments also directed district hospitals to make ICUs and emergency services fully operational within seven days.According to a health department release issued on Saturday, the reforms are part of the Saat Nischay-3 programme’s “Accessible Health, Secure Life” initiative, aimed at maximizing the use of local medical resources, specialist doctors and existing infrastructure. Health minister Nishant Kumar has repeatedly stressed that patients should not be referred to higher medical institutions without valid medical reasons.Health secretary Kumar Ravi directed all civil surgeons to monitor implementation at the district level. Under the new guidelines, every stage of treatment — including OPD, IPD, trauma and emergency care — will be digitally recorded on the BHAVYA (Bihar Health Application Visionary Yojana for All) portal. Admitted patients will be assigned an ABHA ID to create an integrated electronic health record.Doctors will be required to record a valid clinical reason on the portal before referring any patient.

A computerised record of the patient’s treatment journey must also be provided to family members. In critical cases, patients must be stabilized before referral and shifted only through government ALS/BLS ambulances.To ensure accountability, district-level monitoring committees headed by district magistrates will periodically review referral patterns and take action against violations. A state-level nodal officer has also been appointed to supervise implementation across districts.The department said the measures would reduce pressure on tertiary hospitals, improve the efficiency of district healthcare institutions and ensure timely treatment closer to patients’ homes.