NEW DELHI: To maintain transparency in Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics (AAMCs) and ensure that the doctors and the staff don’t engage in corrupt practices, the state health department is distributing tablet computers to the doctors and staff of the clinics.
According to officials, by the end of this month, all the clinics will be equipped with three tablets which will be used to click the picture of the patient. A software will be installed in the tablet through which the patient’s photo will be clicked when he or she blinks the eye.
“Post this, the information of the patient will be sent to the server which the officials in the health department will monitor,” said an official working with the Delhi health department. The official stated that a tablet each will be provided to the doctor, pharmacy staff and the employee involved in the registration process.
The doctors and the staff have been asked to buy the tablets, the budget limit of which is Rs 15,000. According to the official, the reimbursement for the same will be done from the sum of Rs 209 crore which were allocated by the Delhi government for the mohalla clinics.
The tablet push has been made by acting health minister Manish Sisodia. “The move has been fast-forwarded by Manish Sisodia and has been done to ensure that things remain transparent between doctors and patients,” said an official working with the health department.
The mohalla clinic project is aimed at providing free health-care facilities to the city residents closer to their home. Allegations of fraud and scam in Mohalla clinics have come into light and it has been alleged that some doctors are seeing each patient only for a few minutes to increase the number of patients they checked in a day.
There have been allegations that the empanelled doctors fudge the number of patients to earn more money. Doctors get `40 per registered patient, with a minimum assured guarantee of 75 patients daily. Currently, a total of 520 mohalla clinics are functioning in Delhi and the government is set to launch 100 more.