Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, also known as Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission or the National Digital Health Mission, was announced by PM Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort during his Independence Day speech last year. According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), it is currently being implemented in a pilot phase in six states and Union territories.
This Mission aims to create a seamless online platform to enable information-sharing within the digital health ecosystem. Three key components of the project will be a health ID for citizens, a healthcare professionals registry and healthcare facilities registries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission leverages technology to improve access to healthcare and opens doors for new innovation in the sector. He said that citizens will be able to access health facilities conveniently.
The launch of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission coincides with National Health Authority (NHA) celebrating the third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Currently, over one lakh unique health IDs have been created under the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
In a notification by the Press Information Bureau, the Government of India said that the Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission will create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide-range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information. The Mission will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
The key components of the mission include a health ID - unique 14-digit health identification. It will be issued for every citizen that will also work as their health account. The national Health ID will be a repository of all health-related information of a person. The health ID will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
This health account will contain details of every test, every disease, the doctors visited, the medicines taken and the diagnosis. This information will be very useful as it is portable and easily accessible even if the patient shifts to a new place and visits a new doctor.
The ID will be created by using a person’s basic details and mobile number or Aadhaar number.
Personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application, a Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR), and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR).
Health ID under NDHM is free of cost, voluntary. This will help in doing analysis of health data and lead to better planning, budgeting and implementation for health programs.
