Bihar’s Health Department plans to set up an AI-enabled call centre for government hospitals within the next two months, letting patients get guidance on their symptoms and book an outpatient (OPD) slot with the right doctor from home. The plan was reported by Prabhat Khabar on 4 November 2026, citing department officials in Patna.

The move targets one of the most visible problems in the state’s public hospitals: long queues at OPD registration counters, where patients often wait for hours only to find that the specialist they need is not available that day.

How the Bihar AI call centre will work

According to officials, the AI call centre will connect all government hospitals in the state. Patients will be able to:

• Call in and describe their health problem, and get basic information on the illness, its symptoms and treatment.
• Find out which specialist they should see before travelling to a hospital.
• Choose a hospital and doctor and book an OPD slot online, with the time allotted according to the doctor’s availability.
• Get a case history prepared with AI from the call, which they can print and carry to the consultation. Patients who cannot print it will be able to use it online.

Officials said the main aim is to organise the flow of patients in government hospitals so that people arrive at a set time instead of crowding OPDs from early morning. Patients from rural areas, who often travel long distances to district hospitals and medical colleges, are expected to benefit most.

Part of a wider digital health push in Bihar

The call centre builds on a series of digital health steps the state has been planning. At a review meeting of the State Health Society, Bihar in September 2026, Health Minister Nishant Kumar directed officials to integrate the patient referral system with software, link the 102 and 108 ambulance services to hospitals, and show real-time bed availability on a dashboard. Pilot projects were ordered at PMCH, AIIMS Patna, NMCH and IGIMS, along with an integrated command and control centre and QR code-based bed management. The minister also asked officials to study linking the state’s 104 health helpline with the national eSanjeevani telemedicine service.

The State Health Society has separately invited bids for a 20-seat integrated 104 call centre for health grievances, helpline support and medical advice. Patients in Bihar can already book appointments at many public hospitals through the Centre’s Online Registration System (ORS), but a voice-based AI service could reach patients who are not comfortable with apps and web portals.

Why it matters for digital health

Several states are now using technology to fix the front end of public hospitals. Tripura has brought all its government hospitals onto IHMIS for paperless care, and Maharashtra has mandated eSanjeevani teleconsultations at its Arogya Mandirs. Haryana is building a GIS health map to put every public health facility online, while Jharkhand is using an AI portal to track medicine sales.

For Bihar, which has around 14,000 public health institutions from health and wellness centres to medical colleges, the success of the AI call centre will depend on how well it is linked to hospital information systems and doctor rosters, and on whether it can handle calls in Hindi and local languages such as Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi. The department has not yet named a technology partner or a launch date.

Key takeaways

• Bihar plans an AI-enabled call centre for government hospitals within two months.
• Patients will get symptom and treatment guidance and book OPD slots based on doctor availability.
• An AI-prepared case history can be printed or used online at the consultation.
• The plan follows earlier steps on real-time bed dashboards, ambulance integration and a 104 helpline.

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