Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) has started uploading medical investigation reports of both indoor and outpatient department patients online to make the pathological report delivery mechanism hassle-free.

As of now, the data entry operator of the hospital laboratory, where tests are conducted, sends the test report to other ata entry operators sitting in various wards, who then informs the sister-in-charge about the test report of the patients concerned.

Patients’ attendants can take the investigation report from the data entry operator of sister-in-charge.

IGIMS officials claimed that doctors and patients would soon be able to access the medical investigation reports online with the help of an application, which is going to be launched in a few months. 

Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) or no other state-run hospital has this facility at present. 

Additional medical superintendent of IGIMS Manish Mandal said: “Around 15 days ago, we made the investigation reports of patients available in the ward itself. A data entry operator posted in every outpatient department and indoor wing receives the medical investigation reports of patients from another data entry operator working in the laboratory.” 

“Shortly, we would connect doctors with the initiative because we are developing an application through which doctors would be able to know about the patients’ investigation reports. While we would give passwords to doctors to access the information, patients would be provided with a certain registration number to get the details online,” said Mandal, adding that the health hub was developing the application with an IT firm. 

The IGIMS has already started uploading the details regarding the bed availability in various wards online.

“The data operators working in general, private or any other wards can give the details regarding the bed availability in the hospital. However, the final decision regarding the bed allotment has to be taken by the medical superintendent’s office. This has been done so as to usher in transparency,” added Mandal.

He said doctors would also be able to know the bed availability status in various wards with the help of the new application.
“The doctors would be able to suggest patients about the bed availability.”

Ramnaresh Yadav (45), the attendant of Meena Devi, a patient admitted in the outpatient department of IGIMS, hailed the initiative.

“Making the medical investigation reports available in wards is a very good initiative. This would save time of the patients who earlier had to visit a different counter to collect pathological reports, he said.”

IGIMS has launched several new facilities in the past,  many of which are not available in any state-run or private hospitals.

The hospital started kidney transplant facility this year, while it started corneal transplant in 2014.