Q63- Ayushman Bharat Mission is a collection of technical efforts aimed at improving high-quality healthcare across India. To achieve interoperability within the digital health ecosystem, analsze its potential and constraints. (250 words)
Paper & Topic: GS II à Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Model Answer:
Introduction:
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
People will be given a unique digital health ID that will contain all of their health records under this program.
On August 15, 2020, the prime minister announced the National Digital Health Mission's pilot project from the Red Fort's ramparts.
Body:
Features:
A health identity card for every citizen, a healthcare professionals register, and healthcare facility registries are the main components of this project, which is also known as the National Digital Health Mission or the PM Digital Health Mission.
It will also aid in the protection of health-related personal information's security, confidentiality, and privacy.
Every citizen's health ID will also function as a health account, to which personal health records may be linked and viewed via a mobile application.
The Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) will serve as a central repository for all healthcare providers in both traditional and modern medical systems.
Currently, six Union Territories are participating in the project's experimental phase.
The project's statewide deployment coincides with the third anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, which is being celebrated by the National Health Authority (NHA) (AB PM-JAY).
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission's Potential:
With citizens' cooperation, the mission will provide access to and exchange of longitudinal health records.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will play a significant role in addressing issues with low and middle-class medical treatment.
Similar to how the UPI revolutionized payments, the new program will aid in the creation of interoperability within the digital health ecosystem.
It will make it easier for doctors, hospitals, and healthcare service companies to do business.
Furthermore, as part of the aim, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Sandbox will serve as a platform for technology and product testing, assisting organizations, including private players, in becoming a member of the National Digital Health Ecosystem and becoming a health information supplier.
Challenges that may arise:
'Health' is still not recognized as a justiciable right by the mission. According to the proposed National Health Policy, 2015, there should be an effort to make health a right.
One of the most pressing problems is patient data security and privacy. It must be assured that the patients' medical records are kept completely confidential and safe.
Insurance firms' potential misuse of information may have an impact on people's ability to get insurance.
If health information is available, firms may charge a higher premium or even deny coverage in some situations.
Furthermore, prior to commencing the mission on a pan-India scale, lessons from the failure of a similar National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom must be learned, and technological and implementation-related inadequacies must be aggressively rectified.
Conclusion:
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will play a critical role in addressing the challenges that diverse classes of Indians, particularly the impoverished, confront when seeking medical treatment.
It can be accomplished through bringing people together through technology, such as connecting healthcare staff, hospitals, and patients.
For the health industry, this offers never-before-seen revolutionary potential, but care must be taken to ensure that the information is not disseminated mistakenly.