Hyderabad: In a first, as part of a pilot project, two health ATMs have been installed at govt hospitals in King Koti and Malakpet.The self-operated touch-screen machines, designed to provide primary and preventive healthcare solutions, can conduct over 130 medical tests and deliver reports within minutes to thousands of patients who visit these hospitals daily.These include around 50 types of blood tests, along with assessments of physical parameters such as cardiovascular assessment, pulmonary functions, lipid profile, ECG, liver and kidney function tests, ENT, blood pressure, sugar levels and haemoglobin, among others.Dr Ajay Kumar, commissioner, medical policy council, said the health ATMs are being tested on a trial basis as they offer instant reports of both basic and advanced tests. "These health kiosks are also in use in other states. With this, the patients can take their reports directly to doctors, helping manage the outpatient load. The machines have been set up based on the directions of health minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, and if the pilot proves successful, we will expand them to more govt PHCs, UPHCs, and other health centres," he explained.At present, health officials are checking the efficacy of the machine by comparing their reports with those of Telangana Diagnostics Centre (TDS) at the Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), Narayanguda. "We are sending two samples every day to the TDS, and over the next two months, we will send around 100 samples to verify accuracy. So far, all the test reports have matched 100% accuracy," said Piyush Solanki of Delhi-based Cloud Spital, which developed the health ATMs."Once a patient's registration is completed during the first visit, the kiosk also stores their data, as it is integrated with a mobile app. Moreover, these health ATMs are linked with the Central govt's health platforms, Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) and the state govt's telemedicine service, E-Sanjeevni," Solanki added.However, alongside the benefits, doctors have expressed some concerns.Dr A Bheemavathi, pathologist, who is supervising the project at both the govt hospitals, said that the machines will be more useful for PHCs than for hospitals with a heavy influx of patients. "While the report takes some minutes, the whole process gets completed in about 45 minutes to an hour. So, for big hospitals, more than one machine will be required to process a large load of test samples."Noting that results from the health ATMs have been satisfying so far, she added, "One major advantage is that in conventional labs, we cannot send samples after 2 pm to the TDS. But with health ATMs, we can operate round-the-clock, particularly in emergency times."