New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS): Health Minister J.P. Nadda on Saturday inaugurated a new out patient department (OPD) at AIIMS where appointments with the doctors will be made through online to provide ease to patients accessing services at the hospital.

The project, a public-private partnership (PPP) between the health ministry and the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), will help 10,000 patients daily to reduce the long waiting time and eliminate overcrowding.

Some of the facilities that the new OPD includes are new waiting hall with seating capacity of 2, 550, additional seating capacity, 120 patients care coordinators for patients assistance and guidance and four large LED appointment status boards displaying the real time appointment availability for increased transparency and visibility.

"This new OPD will speeden up the existing appointments procedure in the premiere hospital. This is for patient's better communication, control and exigencies," said Nadda at the ceremony.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) director M.C. Misra said: "Digitization of AIIMS processes has been my top priority and introducing digitized OPD processes is a first step towards the fulfillment of this mission. We are happy to lead a transformation project that draws on collaboration of excellent teams from TCS and AIIMS working in tandem towards such a profound impact on patient care."

Apart from the OPD, Nadda also launched a slew of initiatives to improve the healthcare services of the country including Kilkari, an audio-based mobile service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy, child birth and child care.

"Each pregnant woman and infant's mother registered in Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS), a web-enabled name-based system to monitor and ensure delivery of full spectrum of services to all pregnant women and children, would receive weekly voice messages relevant to the stage of pregnancy or age of the infant," he said.

He also announced that a new mobile-based application named mobile academy has been developed through which about 90,00,000 ASHA workers will be trained using mobile services.

"The initiative will aid in enhancing their inter-personal skills. Once registered, ASHAs can access the 240-minute course by their mobile phones. They can then complete the standardized course at their convenience," said Nadda.

He also announced the making of the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) more patient-centric.

"A dedicated toll free number, 1800-11-6666, with a call centre is being started to provide round the clock support for patient counselling and treatment support services. This call centre will have trained personnel to provide feedback to patients and also link or refer chest symptomatic persons to RNTCP services," said Nadda.

"Under the initiative, callers can give a missed call or call to get complete support for diagnosis, treatment and support for the completion of treatment on the national toll free number," he added.

The initiative is being started in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.

Nadda also announced the launch of M-Cessation, an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users to quit the habit.