CHANDIGARH: Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, is going to launch prepaid cards for patients and even students to pay for any expense — be it hostel fees, diagnostic tests or medicines.
The prepaid card will be usable by patients and students at all point-of-sale locations in the hospital and also for online payments.
GMCH expects it to be the most helpful for those who do not have a debit or credit card.
The prepaid card will also capture data of fee payment, as it will be linked to OPD registration and in-patient record documents.
“The prepaid cards will be launched in January 2020,” said GMCH director principal Dr B S Chavan.
No minimum, maximum limit yet
This is another attempt by the GMCH to go paperless. “Registration and OPD appointments are online.
Now, to reduce queues, we have started online fee payment and the launch of prepaid cards for the patients will help in that,” said a faculty member.
The same prepaid card can be used for hostel fees, canteen bills and other transactions.
The step is in line with the Government of India’s digital health scheme, which aims at developing cashless systems in hospitals.
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GMCH is yet to work out the minimum and maximum limit allowed in the prepaid card. Also, there will be no extra charges for each transaction made through the prepaid card.
There will be swipe machines installed across the hospital for use these prepaid card. “For the discharge fee, there is no online mechanism.
A patient is not discharged until dues are cleared. The prepaid card makes the process easier and faster,” said a faculty member.
A patient will also be able to use the prepaid cards for buying medicines from the hospital’s drug stores and the record will be saved for future reference.
