‘Create facilities for UPI payments; PoS machines’
Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Dec 15: Aiming to ensure a hassle-free experience for people in hospitals across Jammu and Kashmir, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), has asked administrators of all the hospitals to ensure the facility of QR codes to facilitate digital payments.
In this regard, formal communication has been issued to all Medical Superintendents, Associated Hospitals, GMCs, Dental Colleges; Medical Superintendents of District Hospitals, Sub-District Hospitals, and all the Block Medical Officers across J&K, advising them to put in place the necessary facilities.
Officials told Excelsior that it has been observed that people are still making payments in cash despite the availability of necessary interventions that can make the entire process easy.
The Digital India platform envisages making all payments digital throughout the citizen-centric services provided to them by the Government, read the communication issued in this regard by Dr. Shafqat Khan, Additional Mission Director, ABDM, J&K, advising the hospitals to facilitate the same.
“In this context, it is advised to create digital payment facilities for patients in all hospitals/healthcare institutions by providing QR codes of the respective banks for making UPI payments along with provisions for making Debit Card/Credit Card payments through PoS (Point of Sale) machines.”
Officials said that these measures will ensure decreased wait time for the payment process in hospitals, which otherwise is time-consuming, and will also lead to the optimal use of available human resources.
“We have already taken a number of steps to decrease wait time in the OPDs, especially through the initiation of the Scan & Share Queue Management system. Now, with ensuring that the hospitals facilitate digital payments, it is also aimed at providing people with a seamless experience at hospitals,” Secretary, Health & Medical Education (H&ME) Department, Bhupinder Kumar, told Excelsior.
He added: “It is a part of the digital health ecosystem that the UT administration is initiating in J&K aiming to ease doing business for citizens with a special focus on making access to healthcare easy and seamless under the ABDM.”
Dr. Shafqat Khan, while commenting on the directives issued, said that digital healthcare has taken a leap in J&K, mentioning the initiation of the Scan & Share Queue Management system as a game-changer in hospitals, now coupled with the facility of digital payments.
“After the successful implementation of queue-less OPD ticketing facility, the next step is the introduction of digital payment gateways for the ease of patients and as well as their attendants,” he said.
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