The Andhra Pradesh government is ahead of other States in digitising patient health records through the eHospital system and has also performed well in integrating outpatient, inpatient, tests, e-prescriptions into the online system, according to the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare.

A two-day workshop, detailing the benefits of the NextGen eHospital system, and organised by the Health Department in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), was held at Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences (Dr. NTRUHS) in Vijayawada on Tuesday.

As part of the Digital India initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, NextGen eHospital, an application, was developed by the NIC to improve healthcare services and to connect patients, doctors and hospitals on a single platform.

On the occasion, NIC Deputy Director General C.J. Antony said that once patient’s details are recorded online with their consent, hospitals compliant with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission anywhere in the country can access these details, making it easier for the patient to receive treatment in other hospitals.

While 4,003 government hospitals have been linked to the application across the country, in Andhra Pradesh, 281 government hospitals, including community health centres, teaching hospitals, district and area hospitals, have been liked to the application, he said, adding that the State was leading in entering all outpatient, inpatient and other details online.

Mr. Anthony said the State was also leading in implementing e-prescriptions. Of the total 2.91 crore prescriptions issued electronically across the country, the State alone accounted for 70% of it, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Secretary Saurabh Gaur pointed out that the digital application is increasing responsibility and accountability among healthcare staff, as their performance is reviewed online and attendance is recorded through facial recognition systems.

NIC State Informatics Officer S.V.C.H. Subba Rao, Director of Medical Education (DME) G. Raghunandan, Additional DME Radhika Reddy, superintendents from various hospitals participated in the workshop.