The Hindu Business Line : Doc visits don’t have to be a pain

It always happened that way: The nagging pain in her knees would become unbearable and Lakshmi would head to the nearest hospital for immediate relief.

There, the scene usually unfolded on these lines: The help desk assistant asked for name and address, age and ailment, prepared a patient/record card, collected the consultation fee and directed Lakshmi to the specific ward. When her turn came, the do ctor asked her to explain her ailment in detail, while checking pulse, blood pressure and so on. He jotted down his diagnosis, advised her on diet and medication and handed over the prescription.

Over the years, Lakshmi has been going from one hospital to another. Recently, fed up with the routine, she decided to switch to the Ayurvedic system of treatment and sought an appointment at the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy in Coimbatore.

There, besides the usual questions, the people at the desk sought more details of Lakshmi, such as “for how many years have you been suffering,” “do you exercise/walk” and other overall pointers. A bigger surprise was watching the help desk assistant wield a computer mouse to register her responses. After this initial screening, Lakshmi was told to wait for her turn to meet the physician.

But the use of the computer didn’t end with this. When Lakshmi went in, the doctor greeted her by name, which helped her feel at ease immediately. The doctor had no pen or paper on his desk, instead he perused details on a drop-down menu open on his screen. He read the information the help desk assistants had keyed in regarding Lakshmi. Alongside the physical examination, he referred to the details on the computer screen and fed in his own observations. And then he prescribed medicines and directions of use, simultaneously keying in the dosage and revisit date.

The paperless system took Lakshmi — and eWorld — by surprise. What is happening at AVP?

“Well, we found that there was a dire need to support the efficacy of Ayurveda. Though the ayurvedic systems of medicine have always been in use, there has not been much documentation of the kinds of people who preferred this treatment, the ailments for which they sought this system of medicine and the like. So we decided to generate data on three things — epidemiology, safety and efficacy,” says Dr P Ram Manohar, Director of Research at AVTInstitute for Advanced Research (AVTAR).

Technology helps to document complete patient data. The software — developed in-house, on established protocols — captures the relevant details. This base line observation is saved in a document — RUDRA (Random Uninterrupted Document for Retrospective Analysis).

“A team of researchers periodically reviews the generated data. We started this exercise in 2003. It is a rigorous documentation protocol,” says Dr Manohar.

In the early days of adoption, the outpatient attendance was about 700. It has steadily grown to more than 2,000 now.

According to Dr Manohar, technology has helped bring efficiency into the consultation and treatment process. The minutest details, right down to the strength of the drug prescribed for treatment, are stored against a patient’s name. Since access is restricted, security fears are taken care of.

Has the waiting time come down for patients, eWorld asked Dr Manohar.

Let’s put it this way, he says. Because of the efficiency brought into the consultation and treatment system, by technology, the whole process is more productive. “The physician does not tire quickly, the system enables him/her to see more patients (physician’s productive time is increased), patients respond better since every move is documented and above all, it ensures transparency,” says Dr Manohar.

Also, the hospital is looking to analyse the information generated over the years. This data mining will give doctors better insight into what treatment works for what kind of patients/ailments, he says.

lnr@thehindu.co.in

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Doc visits don’t have to be a pain