Pramesh S Jain & Yogesh K Porwar
According to the circular by the Department of Health and family welfare,referral of patients from primary health care centers to higher health care facilities for secondary and tertiary treatment is set to switch over to an online platform from June 1, 2022.
Currently, the process used for referral involves manually filling out a pre-printed form.
The old process would impinge the time of doctors and also cause inconvenience for the patients. However,with the new Online Referral System (ORS), the process will become hassle-free and also avoid fraud.
The ORS is being implemented under the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) scheme.
From June 1,Doctors and Nodal officers identified in the healthcare facilities will have to start referring patients through the website ‘https://arogya.karnataka.gov.in.’
The Health Department has planned a gradual implementation of the new ORS to avoid inconveniencing patients.
The new platform will be rolled out in May itself and Public Health Institutions will be expected to use the platform and familiarize themselves,but, offline referrals will also be permitted in case there are glitches in the process due to the process being unfamiliar.
After June 1 however, manual referrals wouldn’t be accepted.
All doctors and staff have been asked to train themselves before May 15.
