Awareness, digital literacy gaps among patients and kin remain: Official
PANAJI
The online outpatient department (OPD) appointment booking system which Goa Medical College (GMC) rolled out on February 4 in a bid to ease crowding and long queues has logged nearly 8,000 appointments yet despite the encouraging uptake patient enthusiasm is tempered and officials attribute it to intrinsic shortcomings.
The service was introduced to limited specialities -- orthopaedics, general surgery, ENT, medicine and dermatology. In general medicine, for instance, which typically logs upwards of 300 patients daily, queues persist despite the online slots.
One GMC official said awareness and digital literacy gaps among patients and their family members remain and many still prefer direct visits.
"The online system will take some time to become popular. Currently those seeking appointments have a choice of three slots in the day but need to arrive at least half-an-hour before the appointed time," the official said, adding that the entire system may need some tweaking of time slots.
Back on February 4, the launch day, there were 32 online bookings made for orthopaedics and 30 in surgery OPD. The online appointment permits patients to by-pass the queues of daily direct visit patients, and consult doctors, straight away.
Patients, however, flagged limitations. The system does not allow choosing specific doctors, making it less appealing for those seeking particular specialists. Also, patients with online slots booked must still complete registration at counters from 8am, leading to crowding.
A senior resident doctor also flagged the uncertainty in the duration of consultation for each patient.
"If the case is complex, the examining doctor may take a longer time with the patient. So, patients with time slots may not be examined by a doctor at the appointed time," the senior resident said.
Maliwai Fernandes from Batim who was on his first visit to the ENT department, admitted that he was unaware of the online booking system.
"The next time I will use it (online booking of appointment)," he said.
On an average, each OPD handles over 200 patients per day and officials dealing with the online appointment and delivery system said issues are being addressed and the facility will be expanded to more departments in phases.
The online OPD appointments system is a progressive step to ease the chaos but it needs refinement before it can fully deliver, the official admitted.
