SKOCH Award: J&K’s health initiatives qualify for semi-finals

Srinagar, May 08: Jammu and Kashmir’s three unique public healthcare initiatives under the National Health Mission have qualified for semi-finals of the SKOCH Award 2023, officials said on Monday.
Health officials informed that the three public healthcare initiatives include e-Sahaj, Gap Assessment of Public Health Facilities and Implementation of Diplomate of National Board (DNB) in public hospitals.
Mission Director (MD), NHM, J&K, Ayushi Sudan said the Hospital Management Information System (JK e-Sahaj) project in J&K has been started in the UT, which is under implementation in 578 public health facilities for the first time. It has three module registration, OPD and pharmacy for better healthcare facilities.
He said since its inception National Health Mission J&K has been releasing ranking of Public Health facilities on Hospital Management Information System for every month.
Similarly, the DNB program in J&K has also made it to semi-finals of the SKOCH Award 2023. The DNB program in Jammu and Kashmir has been transforming rural healthcare.
On Jan 07, 2023, Jammu and Kashmir’s DNB implementation was adjusted one of the best practices in the country at a national conference of chief secretaries chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
The MD NHM said DNB implementation in J&K has increased the caseload, case mix and rational improvement in specialist services, especially in difficult and hard-to-reach areas. This has infused research and academic environment in hospitals.
Under DNB program in the UT, a total of 250 seats were granted to the accredited departments during Session 2022 consequent to the concerted efforts and hard work of the Administrative Department H&ME J&K, NHM J&K.
Ayushi said the efforts are being made to scale up the DNB courses to all the district hospitals and potential CHCs of J&K. “During the upcoming session, J&K is planning to submit more than 30 applications and including almost all District Hospitals”, she said.
The DNB (Diplomate of National Board) courses have been introduced in district hospitals and new GMCs besides old GMCs and SKIMS to strengthen the institutions, and decongest the Govt. Medical Colleges and to address the shortage of specialists in J&K.
Another initiative gap analysis has also made it to the semi-finals of SKOCH Award 2023. The health department conducted a gap analysis as per the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) guidelines to improve the quality of healthcare delivery and to strengthen the infrastructure and appoint adequate number of doctors, nurses and paramedics.
“Once the gap analysis is completed, the plan of actions is made to fill those gaps with regard to infrastructure, machinery and manpower in a limited period of time,” she said.
In April last year, the Union Government revised the editions of the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) guidelines for ensuring quality health care in government facilities.