NEW DELHI: With National Medical Commission (NMC) moving towards digitising health records of patients at medical college hospitals, regulators may soon be able to verify the actual number of Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries visiting these facilities for treatment, weeding out from records fake and erroneous entries. Besides improving patient record systems, NMC’s efforts will eventually also enable doctors across such institutions to access a patient’s medical history, allowing seamless treatment.In a directive aimed at tightening oversight of medical education and improving patient record systems, the NMC has asked all medical colleges to link the digital systems of their attached hospitals with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) within 15 days.
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The order requires hospitals to integrate their Health Management Information System (HMIS) with the ABDM-HMIS portal maintained by the National Health Authority, allowing hospital registrations and services to be captured digitally and linked to a national platform.Officials say the move could address a long-standing challenge in regulating medical colleges — verifying the actual patient load in teaching hospitals. “One issue we face is that fake patients sometimes get created on paper. Once everything becomes digital, it will help sort this out,” an NMC official said.Institutions often claim that specific government schemes for instance PMJAY bring a certain number of patients to their hospitals, but regulators do not always have reliable data to verify those numbers.“Many things are mentioned in disclosures, but there are no clear records. When the system becomes digital, we will at least have actual data,” the official said.Medical college hospitals are among the busiest public healthcare facilities in the country and serve as the primary training ground for future doctors. Patient load and hospital services are key parameters used by regulators while assessing medical colleges.Digitisation, officials say, will allow the commission to track the performance of hospitals more accurately, rather than relying only on reported patient numbers.The move could also support efforts to build a national medical record framework by digitally capturing treatment details and doctor information through integration with PM-JAY (Ayushman portal) of NHA. “If a patient takes treatment from a doctor, later we will be able to see which doctor treated the patient and access those details,” the official said.In the long run, if hospitals across the country become digitally connected, doctors may also be able to view a patient’s previous treatment records, making it easier to understand medical history and provide better care.However, officials caution that nationwide integration will take time. Health is largely a state subject and hospitals operate under different administrative systems, meaning digital connectivity will expand gradually.“Everything will not get connected immediately. Integration will happen step by step,” the official said.Medical colleges across the country have been asked to complete the integration within 15 days of the notice.
