It should be made mandatory for new-age medical practitioners to issue prescriptions direct from the computer after storing medical history of patients in their computers. Many medical practitioners especially in lower-income localities give their own-prepared medicinal syrups and powder-capsules without letting patients know about the medicines being administered to them. In emergency-era of 1975-1977, such unhealthy practice was effectively checked by making all medical practitioners to compulsorily maintain record of each patient visiting them and also binding every medical practitioner to compulsorily give a copy of prescription of administered or prescribed medicines even though given by the medical practitioner. Such medical discipline should be restored in larger public interest. However, old-aged practitioners not aware of computer-technology may be exempted from compulsory issue of computerised medical-prescriptions. System will enable practitioners sending medical-alerts like about banned medicines through e-mail to their regular patients.
It should be made mandatory for all pathological laboratories throughout the country to assign a customer-number to everyone going for medical-tests there. Personal data-record including contact-details and all other available information, if any, like blood-group, medical-insurance, treating physician-surgeon etc. of customers should also be registered in computer data-base of consumers. System will enable pathological laboratories to maintain past medical history of patients on computers. Such a system will rather add to regular clientele of pathological laboratories, which can offer membership-discounts for their regular customers and other business-promotional activities.
Madhu Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
