Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader addressing a press conference at Circuit House, in Mangaluru on Thursday/

| Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH

The State government will expand the e-hospital system’s coverage from 40 government hospitals to 180 across the State, Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader said in Mangaluru on Thursday.Under the e-hospital system, the government digitally maintains patient treatment and laboratory test records and makes them accessible across the 180 hospitals. “Care will be taken to ensure the privacy of the records,” Mr. Khader told reporters that, in the coming years, the government will provide private hospitals access to treatment information, enabling patients to continue treatment there.The Minister said four different e-hospital system modules had been in place for the past three months in 40 government hospitals across four revenue divisions. “Whichever model works well will be adopted to have a paperless office system across 180 government hospitals,” he said.The National Health Authority, under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), has already put in place the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number, which is issued in place of the Aadhaar card for a patient admitted to a hospital. With the ABHA number, there will be hassle-free access to and sharing health records digitally. It enables patients to interact with participating healthcare providers and receive digital lab reports, prescriptions and diagnoses seamlessly from verified professionals, the authority said on the mission’s website.Mr. Khader did not specify how the ABHA number would be integrated into the e-hospital system.The Minister said the government will provide broadband connectivity across all government hospitals. In six months, tele-ICUs and neonatal care units will be put in place in government hospitals. “We will ensure a robust server, which will help patients get specialised treatment in the remotest government healthcare centre,” he said. The government has set aside ₹42 crore for infrastructure improvement and ₹32 crore for tele-ICUs in government hospitals. Published - July 30, 2026 08:16 pm IST