Online prescriptions a boon for patients, docs

NAMAKKAL: The introduction of a ‘paperless prescription’ system, as part of which doctors  prescribe medicines and tests online, has come as a boon for both patients and doctors of the government hospital here.Implemented as part of the Hospital Management Information System under the TN Health System Project, the ‘online registration system’ has been implemented at nearly 40 government hospitals across the State, including Namakkal Government Hospital, in the first phase. According to officials, the system would be subsequently introduced in 230 government hospitals in TN. As Namakkal GH superintendent Dr J Mohan explained, “Under this system, a patient is given a Permanent Identity Number (PIN). He/she must show the PIN to receive treatment at the hospital. Doctors need not write long notes on the reference column. All they need to do is just click the mouse to select the medicine.” The doctors also felt that the new system would save time. “We need not crack our heads to select the right medicine, because a kit (list of medicines) would be displayed on the computer screen if we tap the key. We just have to tick the one we want to prescribe for the patient,” said Dr Karunanidhi. These online prescriptions would also apply for blood tests, x-rays and others, the doctors pointed out.Another GH doctor, Shanmugam put it, “This method saves a lot of our time and involves only a few mouse clicks. Otherwise, we would have to write long prescriptions.”  Under the earlier system, if a patient lost his/her case sheet, the information could not be retrieved.However, thanks to the ‘paperless’ system, every pa tient’s case history is uploaded on the computer and can be accessed any time by using the PIN number. Patients can use the PIN for treatment at any government hospital in the State. The online registration system also ensures a fool-proof method in terms of medicine delivery as the volume of medicine given away to the patients is fully accounted for.