Hinduja: Pioneer Takes the Lead

Based out of Mumbai, the PD Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Center has 381 inpatient beds including 57 critical care beds, covering all specialities and diagnostics.

In fact the Hinduja hospital is one of the pioneers in adoption of computerization in hospitals. During the time when computerization in Indian hospitals was still in its nascent stages, an enterprise level HIS with integrated ERP system was implemented in the late 1980s, says Mahesh Shinde, deputy director IT and telecom, Hinduja Hospital. Some of the other technology related initiatives include videoconferencing, telemedicine, RFID based attendance system, bar-coding in pharmacy and lab and IP telephony, adds Shinde.

In the Last 1 Year

In the last 1 year, Shinde has been a busy man with large number of IT implementations. We are scanning all paper records of the hospital including the medical records of our patients. This has made the document imaging based medical records retrieval faster and more efficient, says Shinde. In addition a new library software has also been implemented for supporting barcode, online purchase requisitions, and interface with the HR module for an updated list of employees eligible to draw books. The new software allows the library members to make use of an internet/intranet based access to real-time online books and periodicals catalog, along with their availability status.

On the hospital front, an archival system called PACS was implemented to integrate the 12 modalities including CT Scan, MRI, and X-ray. The IT team designed an in-house IVF software to offer HIS support for IVF, which is a newly introduced facility at Hinduja hospital.

The radiology department saw key technology deployments. A solution for speech to text conversion too was implemented for reporting in radiology and digital signature based authentication of radiology reports was also implemented keeping in mind the amendments and case laws in Indian Evidence Act and Information Technology Act.

Challenges

The adoption and acceptance of any technology is a challenge, right from justifying the need to go for the deployment to installation, integration, and even training. Moreover the fear of losing job among the employees due to the adoption of efficient systems and processes needs to be addressed tactfully.

The smooth data exchange and integration of the third party software and technologies to work as a single cohesive unit involved a lot of middleware applications and tweaking. For instance PACS is integrated with speech-to-text engine, various HIS modules (RIS, Wards, OT), SMS gateway and a digital signature solution, says Shinde.

The server storage capacity also needs to be continuously upgraded to accommodate the growing requirement of online electronic data storage from HIS and PACS.

Shinde lists out the steps that were undertaken to address the issue:

When it comes to the accrued benefits, the online availability of medical record files and radiology images in OPD, wards, and operation theater has helped doctors to take decisions faster in crucial operations.

Looking Ahead

The hospital plans to migrate to a completely upgraded HIS solution designed specifically for the systems and processes of Hinduja hospital. And many new technologies like industry standard email solution, queue management, smartcard based patient loyalty card, internet and IVR based patient information/payment system are also being integrated with the new HIS.

As told to Stuti Das

stutid@cybermedia.co.in

With inputs from Shilpa Shanbhag