Delhi's cloud-based health project likely to be out by March next year: CM

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday reviewed the progress of the ambitious cloud-based Health care Information Management System (HIMS) and said it is likely to be rolled out by March next year.

According to a statement issued by Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Kejriwal said that there have been some significant delays due to the pandemic and the project is expected to be fully implemented by March 2022. Along with the HIMS project, a health helpline will also be started and special surveys will be conducted for issuing of e-health cards for residents of Delhi.

"Reviewed the progress of Health Information Management System (HIMS). We are creating the most modern health information system in Delhi. Due to Corona, there are some delays. Hopefully, it should start by March," Kejriwal tweeted after the review meeting.

Under one of the most ambitious health projects of the Delhi government, health cards will be issued in the names of all the residents of Delhi, for which special surveys will be conducted by the government. This will ensure the availability of the benefits of the government healthcare services to every resident of Delhi. Post the issuing, the e-health card will be integrated with the HIMS.

The system seeks to target the healthcare delivery process. All the patient care services, hospital administration, budgeting and planning, supply chain management, and backend services and processes will be brought under the system.

As far as the deployment model is concerned, the entire system will be on the cloud and digitized. This will enable the citizens to avail themselves of information on a single platform, which will help them in emergency cases. With the help of their registered card number entered in the system, the hospitals will be able to access all of the patients' health-related information and past registry.

The system is also supposed to include a 24x7 call centre, or Health Helpline, to help patients with health-related information, seeking consultation, and other assistance. The centralized call centre will provide two levels of help--first where an operator will receive people's calls and messages and provide them with requisite information and second where doctors and experts will provide appointments based on the problem or immediately provide solutions for emergency cases.

According to the release, with the launch of HIMS, Delhi will become the only state to have a cloud-based health management system. This facility will also be extended to private hospitals in the future.