Online booking of doctors’ appointment yet to catch up in Bengaluru

A sizable chunk of patients still adopt the traditional method of walking into the hospital for an immediate appointment

Although the online appointment facility is an excellent system and helps reduce the wait time for patients, lack of awareness and accessibility to computers is a major drawback, say doctors.

In the IT capital of the country, the trend of booking a doctor’s appointment online has less takers.

Almost all private hospitals in the city, who have an online booking facility, have noticed that a sizable chunk of their patients still adopt the traditional method of walking into the hospital for an immediate appointment. The few who adopt the online mode are from the IT belt.

Although the online appointment facility is an excellent system and helps reduce the wait time for patients, lack of awareness and accessibility to computers is a major drawback, say doctors.

The availability of an appointment with a doctor depends on his/her popularity. While there will be a long waiting list for the appointment of a particular doctor, it could be easily available in the case of some others. However, this categorisation on the basis of number of patients they see has not gone down well with some doctors.

Interestingly, some hospitals in and around areas with a lot of IT companies have introduced a “tatkal” booking facility that enables patients to jump the queue and secure an appointment.

In a popular maternity care hospital on Old Airport Road, the online slot opens the previous day for an hour and has to be grabbed as soon as possible. Prior appointments cancelled by patients at the last minute are pooled in this slot.

Sources in the hospital said that these appointments that are given on first-come, first-served basis are not charged extra. “The only hitch is that the tatkal patients will be seen in between regular appointment patients and hence, the patients may have to wait,” the sources said.

Sudarshan Ballal, chairman of Manipal Hospitals, said that although the tatkal facility is not adopted in his hospital, a few appointments are kept open for those who walk in at the last minute.

“As patients would have come from far off places, we do not want to disappoint them. We keep some slots open in each out-patient department so that they can be accommodated after the regular queue. We do not charge extra for this,” he said.

Bhujang Shetty, chairman of Narayana Nethralaya, said as most patients are on follow-up, they usually fix the next appointment immediately after seeing a doctor. “Our branch on Bannerghatta Road gets a lot of online bookings compared to the main facility in Rajajinagar,” he said.

Hardly any takers at ESIC hospital

To provide hassle-free service to patients and enable them to book appointments with specialist doctors, the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) started its online booking facility on its new website www.esichospitals.gov.in. However, till date not more than three patients have availed the facility in the ESIC Model Hospital at Rajajinagar.

Hospital Medical Superintendent Rachita Biswas told The Hindu that the online booking system was open for the hospital’s speciality clinics such as the ones for high risk pregnancies, diabetes and hypertension. “The system is yet to pick up and it could be because of lack of awareness. We are now focussing on propagating it by putting up notices in the out-patient department and also sending information to employers requesting them to popularise it among employees,” she said.

NIMHANS to fine-tune its online facility

Almost two years after the online registration system was launched in NIMHANS, the utility of the system hovers around an average of 67 patients a day. The institute has now initiated a review of the system to fine-tune it and ensure optimal usage.

Launched in February 2014, the online registration system was aimed at reducing the endless wait to get a doctors’ appointment at the premier mental health institute.

NIMHANS Director B.N. Gangadhar told The Hindu that the online registration data for the last six months would be analysed to find out if the system required improvement.

“Analysing the data of online appointments taken in the last one week, we have noted that only 180 of the 404 patients who registered online actually turned up,” he said.

While the highest number of patients who took online appointments stood at 96 a day, the lowest was 46 a day. Those who kept the appointments ranged from 45 (highest) to 23 (lowest).

“Our administrative staff will send out emails to those turned up and call those who did not to find out the advantages and disadvantages. Based on the feedback, we will fine-tune the system and ensure it is optimally utilised,” he said.