From online appointments to e-access of X -ray, govt hospitals in Chandigarh prioritise digitisation in 2026

The New Year brings with it fresh hope on the health front, as several new projects are expected to be launched to improve medical services and patient care in Chandigarh. Designed to address emerging health challenges, these initiatives seek to make healthcare more accessible and responsive to people’s needs.

The year 2025 was a landmark for PGIMER Chandigarh, marked by path-breaking clinical milestones, academic leadership, and national recognition.

Reflecting on the year’s achievements and the institute’s national role, Prof Vivek Lal, director, PGIMER, said, “The year gone by stands as a testament to PGI’s capacity to lead and adapt. PGI’s strength lies not only in excellence of science and clinical outcomes, but in our readiness to serve the nation whenever called upon. Whether through front-line deployment during Operation Sindoor, advancing globally relevant research, or delivering compassionate care to the most vulnerable, our faculty, residents, nurses and staff have upheld the highest ideals of public service”.

Looking forward to the year ahead, Lal outlined a focused roadmap to strengthen healthcare delivery, education, and outreach.

Key plans include a state-of-the-art Advanced Neurosciences Block, a comprehensive Maternal and Child Care Centre, and a dedicated Critical Care Block to enhance emergency and life-saving services.

PGIMER also proposes to establish an MBBS undergraduate medical college to build future medical leadership. To strengthen trauma response, two modern centres are planned at Sarangpur. Additionally, satellite centres at Una and Ferozpur will decentralise tertiary care, improve regional access, and reduce patient burden here at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Talking about the establishment of the 150-bedded Critical Care Block (CCB) at PGIMER, Chandigarh, Lal said that PGIMER is one of the 12 central government hospitals/ institutions under Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission selected for the centre. Preliminary activities comprising soil testing, commissioning of barricading, labour huts, etc. have been completed.

In 2022, the Standing Finance Committee of the institute approved the replacement of the Hospital Information System (HIS) 1.0 with the HIS 2.0. As daily OPDs are witnessing more than 10,000 patients from across the region, with a high number of referrals, and patients from Punjab, the upgrade is planned in 2026.

The HIS 2.0 aims to reduce long queues for registration, paying bills, tracking test reports, and obtaining appointments, among other benefits, and aims to transform patient care and reduce patient waiting times. The upgraded software project, which would include new features to be introduced steadily, will help in online appointments, include a mobile app for accessing hospital services, and QR code systems for registration by scanning instead of standing in long queues.

The digitisation of health services, an ambitious project by the Health Department, Chandigarh, has been designed to save the time of patients, has already been completed in all the 48 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (upgraded Health and Wellness Centres), with all going paperless in phases.

“With scan and share, patients can choose to pay quickly, and the benefit will largely be for patients, who now won’t have to stand in long queues to get their diagnostic reports, which will be sent to them on their phones and emails. These will also be accessible to doctors on their computers, ensuring a health record of patients, resulting in ease and, very importantly, reducing the footfall in the hospital,” Dr Suman Singh, director, Health Services, said.

“In the new year, it will be extended to GMSH-16 and all the civil hospitals. With a new, upgraded and high-tech network system, GMSH-16 will now have a new mode, where all test reports will be sent to the patients’ phone numbers or emails, reducing the footfall, waiting time of patients, easing the process, and decongesting the hospital.”

The official added that the LAN tender is complete, as a high-tech system and a robust network system in a hospital like GMSH-16 is required to go paperless. “Soon, this important project of digitisation will be complete for the OPDs,” she added.

Digitisation will also aid in analysis, data compilation, disease profiles and what steps can be taken for prevention. With digitisation, the need for a physical card for registration will also be omitted over time. Also high on the agenda for 2026 is the approval for the 1000-bed Regional Medical Hub, and among the expansion plans, the priority is the Emergency and the Gynaecology services at GMSH-16.

Work is in progress for the upcoming Mother and Child Centre of GMCH-32, with the hospital striving for a March 2026 opening. The 251-bed facility aims to ease the rising load of patients from across the region.

With all facilities and services under one roof, Dr G P Thami says it will be a step ahead in patient care. “Once functional, it will significantly help in regulating patient load and easing congestion in the existing Maternity Ward,” Thami said.

GMCH-32 is also preparing to soon start CT scan and MRI facilities under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. According to the hospital administration, this move will not only help patients get reports faster but also allow medical students to practice on separate machines.

In a major effort to upscale, the hospital is all set to introduce the next-generation E-hospital for more patient services and move to the cloud server.

Prof Deepak Chawla, Department of Neonatology, and Head, IT Centre, GMCH-32, said that soon, all clinical data will be digitised, with printouts of prescriptions given to patients.

“While most of the OPDs have an online registration system, we are also going to decentralise the OPDs to introduce a scan and share facility, starting with the medicine OPD,” Chawla added.

While most reports are available online, the next step is to make X-ray films accessible online. The hospital is also striving to implement dynamic UPI payments for all tests, with the system already in place at most cash counters.