Coimbatore Medical College Hospital Goes Paperless, Integrates Lab & Blood Bank Data Into HMIS

A barcode is now generated for each lab request using a patient’s admission number. Once tests are complete, the reports are uploaded to the server, digitally approved by technicians, and accessed by doctors and nurses in real-time.

Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) has gone paperless by integrating its lab and blood bank operations into the State’s Health Management Information System (HMIS), enabling rapid, barcode-based results for over 1,800 daily tests.

The move, reviving and expanding the hospital’s earlier partial HMIS use, has sharply reduced turnaround time for reports, from days to just 20 minutes to 2 hours, according to the hospital dean.

"Patients who previously waited days for test results can now receive them in just hours. We have incorporated all lab and blood bank-related data for inpatients, and we are working to extend these services to outpatients. This allows us to initiate major surgeries without delay." said Dr A Nirmala, Dean, CMCH.

Earlier limited to outpatient entries, CMCH’s HMIS was left unused during the pandemic. Now, the hospital has relaunched it more effectively to include pathology, microbiology, biochemistry, and blood bank results, streamlined across 31 departments.

A barcode is now generated for each lab request using a patient’s admission number. Once tests are complete, the reports are uploaded to the server, digitally approved by technicians, and accessed by doctors and nurses in real-time.

“We’ve trained around 700 staff members, including nurses, house surgeons, doctors and technicians—to use the system, and it has proven beneficial for the entire hospital. It manages about 98% of lab data,” said Dr N Selvaraj, Associate Professor, Surgical Oncology, and the nodal officer for the project.

With 800+ patients contributing roughly 1,800 daily lab samples, including referrals from Primary Health Centers. the new digital workflow is helping avoid treatment delays, reduce paperwork, and ensure the authenticity of test results bearing the government emblem.

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