Digital medical emergency referral system set to transform patient care in Rajasthan

A new digital medical emergency referral system being rolled out in Rajasthan is set to transform patient care during the critical initial hours. The model will enable the tertiary hospitals to make preparations for attending to the patients even before they arrive.

Rajasthan is the first State in the country to implement the model, in which a referred patient’s medical history will reach the control room online before they arrive at the hospital. This will allow a team of medical experts to review the reports and stand ready for treatment.

Prepared and tested at Rabindranath Tagore Medical College in Udaipur, the Sim­pli­fied Emergency Trans­fer and Urgent Refer­ral (SETU) has already man­aged over 3,510 emer­gency cases across 15 dis­tricts in the State. The model is going to be a lifesaver for patients by eliminating the issue of “blind arrivals”.

Principal Medical and Health Secretary Gayatri Rathore said in Jaipur on Saturday (august 1, 2026) that the SETU would serve as a robust digital bridge connecting the primary health centres (PHC) and community health centres (CHC) in the remote rural areas with medical colleges and tertiary hospitals in the cities.

“The system operates using only smartphones, quick response (QR) codes, and a closed user group (CUG) network, eliminating the need for heavy investments in additional infrastructure,” Ms. Rathore said. As soon as a physician at a PHC refers a patient using the digital app, the complete digital data, estimated time of arrival and live GPS tracking will be sent to the tertiary hospital.

Before the patient reaches the hospital, the control room will alert super-specialists in the relevant departments, such as trauma, surgical, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics, via the CUG network and reserve intensive care unit or emergency beds.

Ms. Rathore said a fully prepared team of doctors would begin the life-saving treatment for the patient from “minute zero”, as soon as the ambulance doors open. Besides, every patient referred through SETU will receive a fol­low-up call from the con­trol room on the fol­low­ing day to obtain feed­back on treat­ment and hos­pital ser­vices.