Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

In News 

The National Health Authority (NHA), the implementing agency for the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), has extended an open invitation to all interested parties for sharing their Expression of Interest (EoI) in developing innovative solutions aimed at building a national digital health ecosystem for India.

About 

• This collaborative approach will not just help speed up the development but also will help in making digital public goods available to public and/or private entities. Interested parties shall provide these solutions as a service at no cost to public and/or private entities.

About Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare formulated the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission with the aim to provide the necessary support for the integration of digital health infrastructure in the country.
•  This visionary initiative, stemming from the National Health Policy, 2017 intends to digitise healthcare in India.

The ABDM Ecosystem

ABDM Components

• Health ID:
  • It is important to standardise the process of identification of an individual across healthcare providers. 
  • It will be used to uniquely identify persons, authenticate them, and threading their health records (only with the informed consent of the patient) across multiple systems and stakeholders.

• Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR)
  • It is a comprehensive repository of all healthcare professionals involved in delivery of healthcare services across both modern and traditional systems of medicine. Enrolling in the Healthcare Professionals Registry will enable them to get connected to India’s digital health ecosystem.  

• Health Facility Registry (HFR):
  • It is a comprehensive repository of health facilities of the country across different systems of medicine. It includes both public and private health facilities including hospitals, clinics, diagnostic laboratories and imaging centres, pharmacies, etc.

• Personal Health Records (PHR):
  • It is an electronic application through which patients can maintain and manage their health information (and that of others for whom they are authorised) in a private, secure, and confidential environment. 
  • The citizens can get a longitudinal view of the personal health record by creating and linking the health ID with the visited health care facilities.

Aims and Objectives 

• It aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. 
  • It will bridge the existing gap amongst different stakeholders of the Healthcare ecosystem through digital highways.
• It aims to create a seamless online platform that will enable interoperability within the digital healthcare ecosystem. 
• It aims to give impetus to open and interoperable standards in the digital health ecosystem. 
• It aims to significantly improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of health service delivery overall. 
  • Patients will be able to securely store and access their medical records (such as prescriptions, diagnostic reports and discharge summaries), and share them with health care providers to ensure appropriate treatment and follow-up. 

• It aims to provide choice to individuals to access both public and private health services, facilitate compliance with laid down guidelines and protocols, and ensure transparency in pricing of services and accountability for the health services being rendered.

Limitations/Concerns

• Digital Divide: This could lead to exclusion of digitally illiterate and unconnected remote, hilly and tribal areas. 
• Data Breach/Privacy issues: The lack of a data protection bill could lead to the misuse of data by private firms.
• Huge requirement of skilled labours: Need for skilled manpower in the digital domain versus the latest computer skills.
• Inadequate Primary Health Care data: Lack of infrastructure and staff at primary level.
• Issue of interoperability of systems built by different states & the central repositories.

Way Forward

• India’s public health system has to be strengthened and rejuvenated 
• Data protection measures will have to be robust to preserve personal information.
• It should be made transparent and easy to understand for the public.

Source:TH