Page 51 - Insurance Times July 2024

FEATURE

States told to link patient records to

Ayushman Bharat health accounts

T he central government has directed all state those enrolled under the programme are linked with the
administrations to link the health records of
digital health IDs.
beneficiaries enrolled under different health
Additionally, the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program
schemes with the Ayushman Bharat Health
Account (ABHA) ID in a bid to maximize health insurance (NVHCP) and Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme
(PMNDP) have linked 5,600 and 17,000 beneficiaries with
benefits provided to people. digital health accounts respectively.
The lack of integration of health records with the Ayushman "The value proposition of ABDM is huge, as citizens will be
Bharat ID means that patients and doctors are unable to able to view and share all their health records. In order to
get all the benefits of the digital health mission. facilitate this, it is vital that all programmes successfully
Union health secretary Apurva Chandra has taken this up complete the development of milestone 1, milestone 2 and
with the states. The unique digital health ID-ABHA-is part milestone 3," said Chandra in a letter to the states/UT seen
of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which aims to by Mint. The milestones Chandara has referred to are:
create a digital health ecosystem in the country. Creating ABHA ID for beneficiaries; linking their digital health
records with ABHA; and sharing of digital health records.
The ABHA ID enables citizens to authenticate, access and
manage their health records digitally, and facilitates hospital "Though states have taken huge interest in creation of the
and doctors' appointments, helping patients avoid queues IDs, the non-linking of health records with these IDs, is not
for registration at healthcare facilities. allowing the stakeholders, including the patients, from
reaping [benefits] of the digital health records," said
As of 20 May, over 618 million ABHA IDs had been created. Chandra.
However, states are unable to meet 100% compliance for
ABHA seeding on different health portals of the government. These milestones include creating ABHA ID for their
For instance, the National Communicable Disease (NCD) beneficiaries, linking their digital health records with ABHA
portal has about 534 million beneficiaries but only 84 million and sharing of digital health records.
of those beneficiaries are linked to the Ayushman Bharat The mission is being implemented by the National Health
ID. Similarly, the sickle cell programme portal has 29 million Authority (NHA) ensuring data privacy and safety. Medical
beneficiaries, but only 89,000 beneficiaries are integrated records are made available to anyone only with the consent
with ABHA ID. of the patient.
The reproductive and child health (RCH) programme has Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson remained
about 542 million beneficiaries but only about 1.5 million of unanswered. (Mint)

46 July 2024 The Insurance Times