JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today had an in-depth analysis of the features and functioning of the ‘Sehat App’ before it is being dedicated to the public.
The application, which was developed by BISAG-N on the request of the Health & Medical Education Department, would serve as a single stop solution for availing all patient and health practitioner-related services in J&K.
During a live demonstration of this application, the Chief Secretary assessed several of its features and appreciated both the Health Department and BISAG-N for making it a reality. He observed that this first version is itself a comprehensive application offering certain better services to patients and health practitioners through their smartphones.
The Chief Secretary further enjoined upon the concerned to onboarding all the health practitioners on this portal in order to make the application more comprehensive and useful for the users. He also advised them to look into making certain upgrades regarding the registration of doctors/paramedics for home support and teleconsultation.
Regarding other services, the Chief Secretary asked for additional information about the high-end services of chemotherapy, and dialysis available in both public and private sectors here. He also directed for offering the of insurance services extended through schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
The Chief Secretary also asked to introduce an inventory of professionals certified in providing ‘Basic Life Support (BLS)’ support in case of emergencies and those of Advanced Life Support (ALS) givers also to build the capacity of BLS givers in order to enhance their number and reach in different parts of the UT.
The Chief Secretary underscored the need to enrich it with the details of blood donors besides having API integration with other applications like e-WIN, ABDM and other relevant ones. He called on them to further augment it with services like home delivery of drugs, and activity calendars of different Medical Colleges and National Institutions for the benefit of medical students and practitioners.
The Chief Secretary also asked for the introduction of a payment gateway in the same application so that users do not have to look helter-skelter to complete their appointments or carry out diagnostic tests in medical facilities. He asked for sending health alerts to the users at times of need or any emergency.
Secretary, H&ME, Dr Syed Abid Rashid Shah, gave a detailed description of the features embedded in the ‘Sehat App’. He revealed that the application has been developed on the lines as envisaged by the Chief Secretary himself. He said that it is a comprehensive one-stop solution for different services offered by the Department in addition to extending resources to the medics for building their capacity and training.
He further said that the app offers patient services, facilities for the general public, facilities for healthcare professionals, medical students, their skill development, health insurance and helpline assistance to people for different purposes together with a chatbot to ask queries and seek customised answers.
Explaining further Dr Yashpal Sharma, Ex Director (Coordination) Medical Colleges disclosed that services like seeking of appointments, online registrations in outside hospitals as that of PGIMER, Chandigarh and AIIMS along with other ABDM empanelled ones and some major private hospitals existing outside the UT can be secured through this application which was appreciated by Chief Secretary for it would be pivotal in transforming healthcare system here in the UT.
Moreover, it was added that detailed information, contacts and GIS based locations had been provided about thousands of health institutions, Ayush Centres, diagnostic facilities (MRI/CT Scan etc), dental centres, physiotherapy centres, drug de-addiction centres, blood banks, immunization centres and pharmacies is available over this application.
Medical practitioners available for teleconsultation all over the country especially from AIIMS are also available with provision for registration of others. It was divulged that registration forms of practitioners would be forwarded to the concerned CMO for their authentication so that only genuine professionals are available to serve the public.
The meeting was apprised that the application offers IEC material for dealing with different diseases and emergency situations like neglected tropical diseases, snake bites, seasonal threats, and health advisories to be issued from time to time.
It is a one-stop solution for different kinds of facilities including the awareness regarding adolescent, geriatric and other specialized care required by different population groups here. The app has been supplemented with an AI-based smart bot to generate customised information about different health situations and a centralized helpline to seek assistance from the public at large. They can even give their feedback on the app by filling in the feedback form to be directly submitted to the developers for making necessary corrections to make the user interface better with each passing day.
