Q. With reference to Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, consider the following statements:

  1. Private and public hospitals must adopt it.
  2. As it aims to achieve universal health coverage, every citizen of India should be part of it ultimately.
  3. It has seamless portability across the country.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  • 1 and 2 only
  • 3 only
  • 1 and 3 only
  • 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b) 3 only

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)
  • The National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 seeks the attainment of the highest possible level of health and wellbeing for all at all ages, through a preventive and promotive health care orientation in all developmental policies, and universal access to good quality health care services without anyone having to face financial hardship as a consequence.
  • In a follow-up of the NHP’s specific goals for adopting digital technologies, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare constituted a committee headed by Shri J. Satyanarayana to develop an implementation framework for the National Health Stack. This committee produced the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB), laying out the building blocks and an action plan to comprehensively and holistically implement digital health.
  • Since the implementation is envisioned to be in a mission mode, the initiative is referred to as the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
  • The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) 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 Healthcare ecosystem through digital highways.
  • Its vision is to create a national digital health ecosystem that supports universal health coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely and safe manner, that provides a wide-range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems, and ensures the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.
    • But it is not mandatory for all citizens to get a Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) Number. Whoever wishes to participate in the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and wishes to have their records available digitally may create an ABHA Number.
  • Features of the Mission:
    • Health ID:
      • It will be issued for every citizen that will also work as their health account. This health account will contain details of every test, every disease, the doctors visited, the medicines taken and the diagnosis.
      • Health ID is free of cost, voluntary. It will help in doing analysis of health data and lead to better planning, budgeting and implementation for health programs.
    • Healthcare Facilities & Professionals’ Registry:
      • The other major component of the programme is creating a Healthcare Professionals’ Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registry (HFR), allowing easy electronic access to medical professionals and health infrastructure.
      • The HPR will be a comprehensive repository of all healthcare professionals involved in delivering healthcare services across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.
      • The HFR database will have records of all the country’s health facilities.
    • Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Sandbox:
      • The Sandbox, created as a part of the mission, will act as a framework for technology and product testing that will help organisations, including private players intending to be a part of the national digital health ecosystem become a Health Information Provider or Health Information User or efficiently link with building blocks of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
  • Implementing Agency:
    • National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
  • Expected Benefits:
    • Ensure ease of doing business for doctors and hospitals and healthcare service providers.
    • Enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
    • Create integration within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in revolutionising payments.