There is a news of relief for lakhs of patients getting treatment under CGHS i.e. the Central Government’s health scheme and the hospitals treating them. Now it will not be necessary to upload the patient’s Geo Tagged i.e. location based photo on the portal every day during treatment
There is news of relief for lakhs of patients getting treatment under CGHS i.e. the Central Government’s health scheme and the hospitals treating them. Now it will not be necessary to upload the patient’s Geo Tagged i.e. location photo on the portal every day during treatment. The Health Ministry had made this rule in 2024 so that fraud could be prevented, but many difficulties were being faced in this.
Now the government has issued new rules, which has reduced the burden on both patients and hospitals. Especially in elderly, emergency and referral cases, the method of when and how to upload photos has now been made easier and clearer than before.
What is the rule for geo-tagged photos?
In 2024, the ministry made a rule that hospitals will have to upload a daily geo-tagged photo of every patient (IPD – in-patient). In OPD (out-patient) cases also, it was necessary to upload the photo of the same day. Its purpose was to prevent fraud.
But now the ministry has given a one-time exemption. No action will be taken on all the cases in which these photos have not been uploaded from December 2024 till now. Hospitals will just have to attach a copy of the new order (Office Memorandum of 2025) with each case and re-submit it on the portal. According to the new rules issued by the Ministry of Health, now the need for geo-tagged photos is not the same in all types of IPD and OPD cases. The requirement will be decided based on the condition of the patient and the type of referral.
1. IPD – Referral cases (e-referral cases)
If a patient is admitted through referral and his/her referral is valid and uploaded on the NHA portal, then the hospital is not required to upload any geo-tagged photo of that patient.
2. IPD – Non-referral cases (eg. emergencies, aged 70 years and above, follow-up admissions, etc.)
In such cases, the hospital will have to upload two geo-tagged photos of the patient. The first photo has to be uploaded at the time of admission and the second photo at the time of discharge. If the patient is admitted for more than 7 days, then an additional photo has to be uploaded every 7th day. This photo should be taken in the ICU or ward. The special thing is that it is no longer necessary to show the CGHS card in the photo.
3. OPD – with referral or endorsement (like consultation, investigations, day-care etc.)
If the patient is taking OPD service under a valid referral or endorsement, then there is no need to upload any geo-tagged photo. Just the referral should be valid.
4. OPD – without referral
If OPD service is being provided without any referral, then photo is mandatory in certain cases.
- For patients 70 years of age or older.
- Follow up consultation (where no new referral has been received),
- And for bed-ridden (unable to move) patients.
- In case of bed-ridden patients, the screenshot of the video consultation will also be considered valid.
How to upload photos?
- The photo should be taken from a smartphone or tablet, in which the location (geo-tag) gets automatically added.
- Upload the photo on CGHS portal at the same time or within 24 hours.
- The size of a photo should not be more than 1 MB, so that the network does not slow down.
- Hospitals must keep a copy of each photo for 90 days so it can be shown during audit.
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