In a bid to bolster the healthcare framework of the city and to contribute towards digitization, four government hospitals in Lucknow will soon adopt paperless service methods for patient-oriented services. These include- Lok Bandhu Hospital, Balrampur Hospital, Avantibai, and Jhalkaribai Hospital.

These hospitals will soon start using barcode-based prescriptions and other digital methods as part of a trial run.

Reportedly, as part of comprehensive digitization initiatives, barcodes or unique numbers will replace traditional OPD tickets at the hospitals. Patient documents like prescriptions and diagnostic reports will be linked to these barcodes or numbers issued to patients. Hospitals will directly send prescriptions to pathology and pharmacy departments.

With the paperless feature, the hospitals will be able to better preserve patient records via barcodes, reducing the risk of them getting lost, and cutting down long patient queues at counters.

The four public institutes in Lucknow will pioneer these paperless initiatives in the state. Contrastingly, despite their advantages, digital methods have limitations. Patients from deprived backgrounds without smartphones may struggle to access their documents, and obtaining medications from private stores with digital prescriptions could be challenging.

Therefore, these hospitals will implement these methods on a trial basis to address errors and overcome limitations.