City govt mulls health ID cards for patients

New Delhi: Seeking to facilitate

patients in maintaining their medical history and create real- time data on diseases,

the Delhi government is mulling introduction of health

identity cards that would allow people to avail of health services in government and private hospitals, polyclinics and mohalla clinics in the city. The health card will have an ID and all hospitals and the health department of Delhi government will have demographic, medical history and treatment

details of the patient. According to a senior Delhi government official, the initiative will help create real- time data on disease burden and the entire data will be available online under the Hospital Integrated System ( HIS). “Once the scheme is in place, patients will not have to carry

their medical and treatment records while visiting hospitals. They can simply carry along

the health card having the unique ID. Once the hospital enters the ID number in the

system, they would be able to access all his medical history and treatment details. Also, the details will be uploaded on the health department web portal which the patient can access anytime,” said the official. The official said that collection of such data will also help government to come up with policies to fight diseases. According to the official, an online record of

all the state blood banks and the current availability of blood

will be available. “This would help a patient check the availability of a particular blood group,” the official

added.