State hospitals being automated, patient records computerised and clinic appointments by phone
State institutions including courts and hospitals are moving forward using advanced technology and automation to improve services to the public. As a first step, 30 hospitals are being updated with advanced methods of booking appointments and a patient’s data being recorded, according to a top Government official.
File picture of Dompe Hospital
Wasantha Deshapriya, Secretary to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure, told the Business Times that hospitals in Dompe, Ampara, Galgamuwa, Karawanella and Point Petro are fully automated. “You will be surprised at these developments. Patients now register and are given an ID with a bar code and then go to the doctor with all your medical details in the system.” This eliminates the need to carry several files of records of a patient’s history.
Appointments to attend clinics could be arranged through telephone and now there is no need to queue up early morning at 3 am, he added speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Office 2017 Exhibition on Corporate Solutions last week at the BMICH. He was the chief guest at the event.
Providing more details, he said in the case of courts some automation is taking place, starting with voice recording and then to move towards video recording. Once the system is in place, delays could be minimised and the stories of case files being misplaced or lost would be a thing of the past. He said that local government institutions in Negombo, Seethawaka and Homagama are also being automated.
The exhibition organised by Sri Lanka Exhibitions and Conference Services (Pvt) Ltd showcased IT, Commercial Real Estate, Office Management, Furniture, Printing Solutions, Office Lighting, Telecommunication, Storage Solutions, Training Solutions Stationery, Security Systems, Automation and many others sectors.
In the case of courts he said right now a little bit of automation is taking place and would start with voice recording and then move towards video recording. He said that once the system is in place, delays could be minimised and the stories of case files being misplaced or lost would be an occurence of the past.
Mr. Deshapriya said they have to realign the present Financial Regulations and Establishment Code along with a cultural change from the old lackadaisical administrative procedures to adapt to the modern systems of practice elsewhere in the world. This would also mean enabling public servants to work from home to save travelling time which in some cases takes more than 4 to 6 hours.
Unfortunately the public is still not aware of the era of modernity and automation in the public sector. He said that to make the public aware of these changes they would arrange awareness campaigns towards educating the people on the new developments the government is carrying out on automation and how far it would benefit the people.