Health Infrastructure Digital Mission
The Context
Health Infrastructure Digital Mission - The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) represents a transformative initiative in India's healthcare sector, leveraging the country's robust digital public infrastructure—including Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and widespread internet and mobile connectivity (JAM trinity). ABDM aims to build a comprehensive digital health infrastructure that bridges gaps among various stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. The mission adopts a holistic approach, utilizing IT and associated technologies to enhance the accessibility and equity of health services with a citizen-centric focus.
Objectives
- To establish state-of-the-art digital health systems and, manage the core digital health data and infrastructure required for its seamless exchange.
- To strengthen existing health information systems, by ensuring their conformity with the defined standards and integration with the proposed ABDM.
- To enforce adoption of open standards by all national digital health stakeholders.
Activities
- Creation of Personal Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and making health records available to healthcare providers with individual consent.
- Introduce a unique Health ID for every citizen
- Create and maintain registries to ensure patients have access to verified healthcare providers and facilities
- Ensure seamless sharing of health data across different systems and platforms Implement robust measures to protect patient information from unauthorized access and breaches.
Prerequisites for Implementing ABDM in Global South Countries
For Global South countries to successfully implement a digital health infrastructure similar to
ABDM, several prerequisites must be met:
- Digital Infrastructure
- Unique Identification System
- Healthcare Workforce Training
- Public Awareness and Engagement
- Data Privacy and Security
- Collaboration and Partnerships
- Regulatory Framework
Case Study
(Source of the Image – media.licdn.com)
Dr. Adhya Singh Medical Officer, District Hospital, Noida, who is consulting the patients through online OPD, said that “after the patient’s ABHA ID is generated, when they come to us, we open the patient’s ID in our computer and ask about his problem and after that whatever problem they have, gets registered on the ID itself. Along with this, the medicine is prescribed on the ID itself. After this, the patient gets further treatment and takes medicine. This entire work is paperless so that even if the patient goes to another hospital or to another doctor, the complete information related to their health is available on their ABHA ID only.”
