The digital health mission seeks to provide efficient and affordable health coverage through a wide range of data and infrastructure services. The key feature of this mission is the technology part – it will leverage open digital systems to provide high-quality healthcare for all. It will integrate various digital health services to create an ecosystem which can assimilate existing health information systems.
National Digital Health Mission
Every person in the country will get a digital health ID which is basically a digital format of all his/her health records which will be linked to the registry of doctors and health facilities across the country. The platform has been planned to improve efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of health service delivery. The health ID will be in the form of a mobile application or website.
The government had sought feedback and suggestions from various stakeholders who will be a part of the initiative. The government has said that enrollment in the initiative will be voluntary. The ambitious National Digital Health Mission finds its roots in a 2018 Niti Aayog proposal to create a centralised mechanism to uniquely identify every participating user in the National Health Stack.
The National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), which comes under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), is expected to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of health services in the country. As per the National Health Authority (NHA), every patient who wishes to have their health records available digitally must start by creating a unique Health ID. The health ID will contain information about medical data, prescriptions and diagnostic reports, and summaries of previous discharge from hospitals for ailments.
The ID will reportedly be applicable across states, hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, and pharmacies. The government has also assured that the data provided will be protected and health records will only be shared after authorisation by an individual. The NDHM’s document also states that health records will be accessible and shareable by the patient with appropriate consent and complete control of the records will remain with the patient.
