Tamil Nadu has brought 2,423 government healthcare facilities, ranging from primary health centres and health and wellness centres to sub-district hospitals, district headquarters hospitals, and medical college hospitals, onboard the State’s Health Management Information System 3.0 (HMIS 3.0). All these hospitals are already capturing outpatient details in real-time.

The in-patient module has already been operationalised in some hospitals, while the remaining facilities are in the process of implementing it soon.

According to the 2025-2026 policy note of the Health and Family Welfare Department, HMIS is a crucial digital initiative aimed at streamlining healthcare data collection, analysis, and reporting. It integrates various public health programmes, hospital records, and patient care data to improve decision-making and service delivery.

Officials said the aim of HMIS was to provide every citizen with secure and convenient access to digital health records, enabling better continuity of care, and supporting the government in delivering better healthcare services for all. HMIS 3.0 has been renamed as “e-Nalam”.

Currently, 30 districts are onboard HMIS 3.0, while the remaining eight districts will be covered soon. HMIS 3.0 was introduced in late 2024, and its phase-wise rollout began in September 2025. “We are now in the fag end of phase IV, and phase V will be launched next month, when the remaining eight districts will be onboarded,” Gomathi Rengasamy, analyst, HMIS, said.

HMIS 3.0 captures outpatient details in real time. This includes patient registration, vitals measurement, doctor consultation, pharmacy and drug details, and laboratory reports. It covers the entire flow from the point of patient entry and registration at the hospital.

Now, they are also starting to capture in-patient details on HMIS 3.0 in medical college hospitals. The in-patient module is under process and will capture the full flow of details, including doctor’s notes during rounds, staff nurse entries for in-patient monitoring, sample collection details, and the drugs prescribed. The laboratory reports will be available online, she said.

“One of the key advantages of HMIS is interoperability across government health facilities. For example, if a patient is treated at Thumbaipatti Primary Health Centre and later seeks care at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, their medical records will be readily available on the HMIS,” Ms. Gomathi added.

HMIS 3.0 is user-friendly and can be easily accessed by both doctors and nurses. Hospitals can instantly access a patient’s records by scanning the barcode on the outpatient card or by using the patient’s unique PIN. Once they register, patients will get details via SMS, and they will also receive laboratory reports on WhatsApp.

The required infrastructure, including hardware and LAN (Local Area Network), is provided through the National Health Mission.

WhatsApp chatbot

Recently, the Health Department launched Nalam AI, a WhatsApp chatbot service, under HMIS 3.0, to strengthen digital healthcare services in government hospitals.

Through this, the public can easily access a wide range of healthcare services, including locating the nearest government hospital, registering patient details, downloading outpatient cards, prescriptions and laboratory reports, and accessing essential healthcare information, all through WhatsApp, officials said.

Published - July 25, 2026 12:29 am IST