Tripura hospitals go digital: IHMIS to put OPD, reports on phones

Tripura is rolling out an Integrated Health Management Information System (IHMIS) across its government hospitals to make patient services paperless, Health Secretary Kiran Gitte said after a review meeting at GBP Hospital in Agartala on Saturday, October 31.

The meeting, chaired by Gitte, was attended by doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and other health workers of the hospital, TripuraInfo reported. Northeast Today also reported the secretary's remarks on making the state's hospitals fully digital.

What changes for patients

Under the system, outpatient (OPD) registration, token generation, inpatient (IPD) admission, prescriptions and laboratory reports will be handled digitally, and patients will be able to see them on their mobile phones.

Doctors will be able to look up a patient's history, including earlier prescriptions and examination notes, on tablets or other devices. That should mean patients no longer need to carry thick files of old papers every time they visit a hospital.

The system has already been introduced at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civil Hospital in Agartala, according to the report.

Help for referred patients

Officials expect the biggest benefit for people from remote areas who are referred to GBP Hospital, the state's main referral hospital. Their records would travel digitally, so doctors in Agartala can see what was done at the district or sub-divisional level.

Digital health number

The state also plans to give every citizen a unique digital health number to make it easier to access their records. Gitte urged people to cooperate with the drive and create their health numbers. Nationally, a similar 14-digit health ID is issued under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABHA); the report did not say whether Tripura's number will be the same ID.

Why it matters

Long queues for registration and test reports are a common complaint at large government hospitals. A single digital platform is meant to cut administrative delays and improve coordination between departments. The government has not yet announced a timeline for extending IHMIS to every district and sub-divisional hospital, or said how patients without smartphones will get their records.