JJ accomplishes what is non-starter at govt hosps

At a time when doctors at the civic-run hospitals are refusing to update data on the centralised health management information system (HMIS), the project has been up and running successfully at the state-run Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy Hospital for the last four years. It came to light when the civic officials paid a surprise visit to JJ Hospital to check how the HMIS software was being used by doctors.

A health official said they learnt the HMIS was easily accessible to JJ doctors, who were updating patients’ data daily. “If the doctors can themselves update the data online, why can’t the doctors at civic-run hospitals,” asked an official who was part of the inspection team.

The HMIS is a ground-breaking project that will keep data centralised through an online system. It will store patients’ medical history and an inventory of medicines in each hospital, which will help prevent a shortage.

After the visit to JJ hospital, the officials reported to the additional civil chief, Idzes Kundan that the doctors themselves were entering data in the system easily. “Following the report, Kundan will hold a meet with the deans of the major hospitals to convince the doctors to use the software instead of demanding data operators,” said an official.

The BMC has planned to procure ‘voice-to-text’ software to help enter the information. The proposal has been accepted by the standing committee and soon, tenders will be floated.