Now, an app to evade queues at hospitals

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Book my OP ticket,’ an Android application cum website developed by a homegrown company does what its name says. The early morning queues in front of speciality hospitals to book doctor’s appointments and another long wait in front of doctor’s chamber for your turn has become a thing of past with smartphones. Patients can select the name of the hospital, the department and get appointments with a specific doctor they want to meet. Apart from issuing OP tickets, the app will give a live status of the token number.

So, the patient needs to arrive at a hospital only when their turn comes. Already around 15 hospitals in three districts including the state capital, Kollam and Thrissur are on this platform. More from within and outside Kerala have signed contracts to join the bandwagon. T. Jayakrishnan of Poozhikunnu, Thiruvananthapuram, one of its founders, says he used to take his late mother Geetha to OPs often as she was suffering from renal issues. However, he does not want to make it sound melodramatic by saying that ordeals made him develop this application.

“Almost all of us have impatiently waited for our turn in front of doctor’s chamber. Our team of 14 launched a detailed study which revealed patients were unhappy with the hassles in getting an appointment,” said Mr Jayakrishnan who is also a realtor. He says he wanted a venture that could really help people in a humane manner. BookmyOPticket has to work dynamically compared to the popular movie ticketing app with a similar name. The groundwork for the platform took place before 2015, and it’s still a work in progress, he said.