Haryana to put entire public healthcare network on digital map, patients to access hospital details with a click
Chandigarh,
Haryana is preparing to bring its entire network of government healthcare institutions onto a single digital map, allowing citizens to access information about hospitals, primary health centres, sub-health centres and AYUSH facilities with a click, while giving policymakers a clearer picture of healthcare infrastructure and gaps in services across the state.
The initiative, developed through Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, aims to integrate information on health institutions across the Health, AYUSH, and Medical Education and Research (MER) departments into a unified platform, replacing fragmented departmental records with a more accessible and coordinated information system.
Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Sumita Misra reviewed the progress of the exercise at a meeting today, where the GIS mapping data of healthcare facilities across Haryana was presented.
The mapping exercise will make it possible to retrieve the geographical location, basic institutional information and photographs of individual health facilities through a digital interface, bringing essential information about the state's healthcare network together in one place.
During the meeting, Dr. Misra emphasised the need to consolidate Health Department data on a single platform and make information available to the public wherever feasible. The move is intended to improve transparency and accessibility while enabling government departments to make more informed decisions about strengthening healthcare services.
For citizens, a publicly accessible system could simplify the process of locating government healthcare institutions and obtaining basic information about the facilities available in their areas. For administrators, the same platform is expected to provide a comprehensive geographical overview of the healthcare network, helping identify areas where infrastructure improvement, additional investment or closer monitoring may be required.
The exercise assumes significance for a state where healthcare institutions are spread across urban centres, towns and rural areas, and coordinated infrastructure planning requires reliable, location-specific information.
By bringing these facilities onto a common digital platform, the government aims to strengthen coordination among departments responsible for delivering different forms of healthcare. A major focus of the meeting was the role of the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), the state's nodal agency for remote sensing and geospatial applications.
HARSAC representatives assured the Health Department that the agency would provide technical handholding for managing the GIS database and facilitate the sharing of relevant information with other departments of the Haryana government. The interdepartmental sharing of mapped data is intended to support evidence-based decisions regarding infrastructure development, the improvement of existing facilities, and administrative monitoring.
The system could help authorities assess the geographical distribution of healthcare institutions and use the available information while planning improvements in underserved areas. It could also reduce the need for departments to rely on separate databases to evaluate the location and basic infrastructure profiles of government health institutions.
The involvement of the Health, AYUSH and Medical Education and Research departments is expected to provide a more integrated view of the public healthcare system, covering institutions operating under different administrative authorities.
The initiative represents a shift towards using geospatial technology not merely for locating health facilities but also as a planning and monitoring tool for healthcare administration. Dr. Misra stressed the importance of ensuring that information available with the Health Department could be accessed through a common platform and, wherever permissible, made public.