Digital technology can help India transform public healthcare

India established its digital power by developing digital public goods such as Aadhaar, which is now central to India’s public service delivery infrastructure, and the Unified Payments Interface that has revolutionized daily life by enabling cashless transactions even in the most remote areas. is of.

Digital Pathways Moving the Needle on Change: The government launched its flagship Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) two years back, recognizing the need for a comprehensive, integrated digital healthcare ecosystem and to move towards proactive, holistic and citizen-centric healthcare.

Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) has created a uniform, robust and transparent framework as an identifier for patients across all healthcare providers. Patients’ details and medical records can be accessed digitally, and the ability to build health profiles at the population level can open doors to care continuity and quality healthcare.

Nearly 400 million ABHA IDs have been created, 30 million health records linked, and 1.75 million health professionals registered with nearly 2 million health facilities, and the mission is gaining momentum.

Platform to lead changeDigital India Collaborative (part of the Piramal Foundation), with a presence in eight states, is a platform that partners with state governments to support public systems to improve public availability, access and quality. Symbolizes the coming together of regional organisations. Services for all citizens by leveraging technology. Significant transformational efforts are already underway in Bihar and Assam, with the creation of ABDM building blocks and digital competencies of citizens and over 5,000 state officials.

looking ahead: While a lot has been covered in just two years, a lot more needs to be done to truly unlock the potential of digital health.

integration of data sources: While digitization of data is important, integration of multiple data sources is important. Capturing data input at the source of patient engagement in hospital information systems and frontline applications as the single source of truth for all programs will ensure accuracy and transparency.

not just tall claimsPradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is one of the largest health assurance schemes globally, covering around 550 million beneficiaries – 40% of India’s population. AB-PMJAY is successfully using digital public infrastructure to provide end-to-end services. This has helped citizens from vulnerable sections to get quality services from admission to treatment, discharge and ease of claims processing. Linking of Aura ID and linking of health records enables a seamless process.

Priority of top programs: Central government programs need to prioritize adoption of digital health accounts, where ABHA IDs can be seeded for customization and creation of use cases. Records linked to authentic auras can actually boost the delivery of programs to address tuberculosis, hypertension and reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health which play a significant role in influencing India’s health indicators.

The immediate adoption of ABDM and health records of over 200 million citizens enrolled in central health programs like ESIC, CGHS, and Railways and Defense will boost coverage of use cases and create a robust repository of services.

Setting the Example with Data Anonymization: With the digitization of data the concern about data privacy increases. To address these concerns, consent mechanisms and anonymity (disaggregation of personally identifiable information, or PII) need to be mandated for accessing data for any clinical, research or program decision purposes. This will enable India to be a role model on data privacy and governance.

The government will be able to better track and stem outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like tuberculosis and deadly viral epidemics like measles and conjunctivitis, while policy makers can chart robust policies for prevention and treatment without personal details of patients Will be equipped with relevant data to do. ,

Privacy and confidence go hand in hand: The Supreme Court of India declared the right to privacy as a fundamental right in 2017, following which the Data Privacy Bill was introduced and now the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 has been drafted.

Meanwhile, as a measure to build users’ trust and confidence, under the ABDM Health Data Management Policy, ABDM has already adopted certain principles to govern the use, collection and processing of personal and sensitive data. This is a step in the right direction towards ensuring effective protection for data privacy.

every life matters: While some schools of thought may see the advancement of digital technology as detrimental to privacy and inclusion, platforms such as ABDM and the Digital India Collaboration have proved to be valuable assets that touch lives in a balanced and responsible manner by keeping the citizen at the centre. have been Every solution, one that will build a truly strong India in the years to come.

Swati Piramal is the Vice Chairperson of the Piramal Group and Pallav Patankar is the Director of the Piramal Foundation.