Tirupati : SVIMS Plans Digital Good Governance Across TTD Medical Institutions
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Sept 10 (TNT): Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) has proposed a comprehensive digital good governance and transparency programme aimed at making healthcare administration more transparent, accountable and patient-centric across SVIMS and other medical institutions under Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
The initiative follows a presentation by Dr M Srinivas of AIIMS, New Delhi, on “Digital Solutions for Good Governance & Transparency in Medical Institutes”, which highlighted technology-driven practices in patient care, administration, procurement, human resources, medical education, research and institutional governance.
Speaking on the occasion, SVIMS Director-cum-Vice Chancellor Dr Gudaru Jagadish said the relevant best practices followed by AIIMS would be studied, suitably customised and introduced in a phased manner at SVIMS and, wherever appropriate, across TTD medical institutions.
The proposed digital transformation would focus on simplifying the patient’s journey through the hospital, covering appointment booking, registration, OPD consultation, investigations, treatment and feedback, he said Queue management systems, doctor dashboards, room-level displays and common-area information displays could help reduce delays and provide patients with timely information.
The initiative also envisages real-time central dashboards to help administrators monitor hospital services, identify bottlenecks and take evidence-based decisions, he said.
A QR code-based grievance redressal system is also proposed to enable patients and their attendants to directly report difficulties to hospital authorities and facilitate prompt action, said Jagadish.
Greater transparency in procurement is another key component, he said a proposed Procurement Digital Library could support price referencing, rate reasonability, price estimation, internal auditing, preventive vigilance and trend analysis by using historical procurement and vendor data.
The presentation also highlighted SAHAS — System for AIIMS Human Resources & Accounting Services — which integrates human resources, financial management and procurement and engineering data. Relevant aspects of the system may be studied for adoption in TTD medical institutions.
Digitalisation of recruitment, from vacancy notification and online applications to scrutiny, interviews and declaration of results, was also discussed as a means of making the process more secure, transparent and time-bound.
In medical education, SVIMS proposes to explore e-learning platforms, simulation centres, skill laboratories and telemedicine-based academic collaboration to strengthen competency-based training and continuous learning.
Digital platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning and clinical decision support systems could also be explored to strengthen research and healthcare delivery, while ensuring patient safety, ethical standards and data protection.
Dr Jagadish stressed that digitalisation should go beyond converting paper records into electronic files and should result in shorter queues, faster services, transparent information and timely grievance resolution.
He said every rupee spent should be accountable and administrative decisions should become more transparent and data-driven.
The proposed digital transformation would also focus on cybersecurity, secure applications, reliable infrastructure and IT governance to protect patient and institutional data.
In the long term, SVIMS envisages a coordinated digital healthcare ecosystem covering patient care, administration, procurement, finance, human resources, medical education, research, grievance redressal and institutional monitoring across TTD medical institutions.
The initiative will be implemented in a phased and need-based manner after assessing existing systems, infrastructure, interoperability, cybersecurity and institutional requirements.
TNT KM
