Now, AIIMS patients can book OPD appointments via App

By Newsgram Staff Writer

In a first for hospitals in India, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences is all set to launch an Android mobile application for the convenience of its patients to book and cancel OPD appointments, and access their laboratory test reports. The new system known as 'IVR Based appointment system' makes it likely to book appointments.

The beta version of the app is out for use but only Old patients having UHID (Unique Health Identification number) can avail benefit from it.

"The final version will be launched in the next few weeks after correcting all the bug reports from the beta version. The UHID requirement will be removed to make it possible for anybody who may not have visited AIIMS before to create a UHID with the app and then carry on with the functions of the app. So effectively, patients will have to just visit the hospital to see the doctor," said Dr Deepak Aggarwal, professor of neurosurgery and in-charge of the hospital's IT cell.

Keeping in sync with the digitization of services, this step is a welcoming one. This system is currently offered in two languages, English and Hindi. Based on the lines of IRCTC, there will also be a 25 per cent 'tatkal quota' for new walk-in patients for each department.

Private healthcare chains like Dr Lal Path labs, Max hospitals and Fortis already have an app for patients to access services and reports online. This app designed by National Informatics Center (NIC), will soon be available for ios users.

"We have kept the interface as simple as possible, to keep it legible and clean. The immediate plan is to broaden the app by removing the UHID requirement, and then link it to Facebook or other social media platforms." said Nikaash Puri, an independent developer of the app. He said that while the software is currently available only in English, it would be linked to Google Translate in the next three-four months to make it available in 12-15 languages.

AIIMS is also expected to incorporate their UHID system with the UID provided by the government, by April. Patients who do not have the app can do the same things on the AIIMS website under a section called patient portal. With a view of making medical facilities mobile for people across India who visit AIIMS for treatment, this app is a way forward to do so.