The services at the state-run hospitals in the city have gone for a toss after the Hospital Management and Information System (HMIS) was shut down abruptly on July 5 following which hospital staff need to manually maintain the data of OPD patients.
This comes at a time when the hospitals are witnessing large numbers of patients due to seasonal infections as well as other diseases. According to sources, HMIS system has been shut down due to the outstanding pending amount y the Maharashtra government.
The HMIS system was introduced in 2009 and implemented at 16 hospitals across Maharashtra, including Sassoon General Hospital (SGH), in subsequent years. Doctors said that long queues were formed as the staff returned to make manual entries almost after a decade of following digital mode.
Many senior doctors were not comfortable with the online system. But as the system has gone offline again, these doctors are finding it comfortable to work. “We have arranged a few of our clerical staff and they are working in three shifts to ensure that registration of patients is carried out smoothly,” said a doctor, on condition of anonymity.
As per sources, blood and radiological investigation reports of the last two days were difficult to access for doctors and patients because of the discontinuation of HMIS.
