'One Patient, One ID': Sindh HM On New Healthcare System

KARACHI: Dr Azra Pechuho, the Minister for Health and Population Welfare of Sindh, recently held a meeting on the Implementation of the OPOID FGHMIS (One Patient, One ID - Federal Government Hospital Management Information Systems), a system that will be applied to all public primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals.

The meeting was attended by Dr Kazim Jatoi, the Secretary of Health, Qasim Soomro, the Parliamentary Secretary of Health, and the National IT Board members.

The Minister was presented with an in-depth overview of Hospital Management Information Systems (HMIS) functions and how it will enable the One Patient One ID (OPOID) program across the country.

In the presentation, organized by the National IT Board’s Project Director-General, Dr Azra Pechuho highlighted concerns regarding patient privacy which she said was of significant importance to the credibility and functionality of the program.

The Minister also said the national hospital management information system data must be accessible at a provincial level. Its policy must be made available to all hospitals in its network.  

This accumulation, archiving, and access to this data is a worthwhile project to undertake, and it will enable diseases, infections and illnesses to be analyzed and curbed in time. The Minister stated that this health system aligned with NADRA should be provided with the best cyber security to protect the people and patients’ sensitive data. She also said that the OPOID is integral to understanding a patient’s medical history and advised the National IT Board to implement this system in Sindh’s tertiary hospitals in the initial stages.

Dr Azra Pechuho suggested that the system should be available in Sindhi and other regional languages to make it accessible to all.