Delhi High Court Orders Surprise Audit on e-HMIS Implementation
The Delhi High Court has instructed the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to perform an unannounced audit of 38 government hospitals in Delhi. The audit aims to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the NextGen e-Hospital Management Information System (e-HMIS). This decision was rendered by a bench comprising Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora.
The NextGen e-HMIS, developed by the NIC, is designed to provide real-time information on the availability of ICU beds and other emergency medical services in hospitals. The initiative seeks to digitize healthcare services to expedite treatment and enhance diagnostic processes.
According to the court’s mandate, the NIC team will conduct surprise audits to verify the implementation of the e-HMIS in all 38 hospitals. The court emphasized the importance of ensuring that ICU bed availability is accurately reflected and managed.
In the same session, the court also instructed the Delhi government to demonstrate the functionalities of the NextGen e-HMIS platform and the ‘ICU Beds Saarthi’ service live.
Case Background and Court Observations
The directives emerged from a suo moto case, where the court routinely reviews issues related to healthcare in Delhi hospitals. During the hearing, the amicus curiae reported an incident where a patient, Qamar Jahan, was denied an ICU bed at Lok Nayak Hospital despite the e-HMIS website indicating availability. The patient’s granddaughter corroborated this, stating that the website showed two ICU beds were available.
More Read
The court expressed concern over the discrepancy, highlighting the lack of consistency in the implementation of the e-HMIS across Delhi’s government hospitals. It stressed the need for uniformity in the system’s usage to prevent patients from being turned away.
Further Court Directions
The NIC’s joint director, Arti Garg, is tasked with conducting these surprise audits until July 31. The audits will focus on three key areas: the accurate reflection of ICU bed availability on the website, the responsiveness to phone inquiries about ICU beds, and the uniform implementation of the e-HMIS.
The Delhi government has been urged to consider establishing a toll-free number for emergency service information and ICU bed availability. Additionally, a nodal person should be appointed to handle medical referrals and ensure patients are not turned away.
The court also directed the Delhi Department of Health & Family Welfare to collaborate with the NIC. At NIC’s request, the Delhi government is to provide transportation for audit purposes, with all costs covered by the government.
In a related issue, the court was informed by an oncologist that expensive medical equipment worth over ₹15 crores remained unused due to inadequate training, causing significant treatment delays. The court condemned this as a gross waste of public resources and ordered an audit of unused medical machinery in government hospitals.
The next hearing for this matter is scheduled for August 7.
