National Health Authority to establish model digital hospitals in every district

To address the problems of long queues, paperwork, and misplaced medical files in India, the central government is now taking a significant step. According to a Mint report, the National Health Authority (NHA) is planning to establish model digital healthcare facilities in every district across the country. The main objective of this initiative is to create 'champion' hospitals that can serve as examples for other hospitals. In each district, two model hospitals—one government and one private—will be developed so that other institutions can emulate them.

This initiative is based on the successful model adopted in Tripura, where public health facilities have become completely paperless. The NHA has prepared a framework to implement this project in a phased manner, selecting 38 districts across 35 states and union territories. These districts will act as guides for the implementation of digital health services across the country. The NHA has also issued guidelines for hospitals, outlining steps to digitize all processes from patient admission to discharge.

Under this scheme, QR-code-based registration, digital prescriptions, diagnostic reports, and pharmacy services will be interconnected in hospitals. For this, patients will have to use their 'Ayushman Bharat Health Account' (ABHA). So far, approximately 99 crore ABHA IDs have been created in the country, which is a 14-digit healthcare ID. Through this ID, patients can keep their medical records safe in a digital locker and share them with doctors when needed. This system will reduce the duplication of tests, provide help during emergencies, and speed up the hospital registration process.

NHA has set strict criteria for participating hospitals. Hospitals must achieve over 95% ABHA saturation among visiting patients and ensure 100% onboarding of local doctors and clinics into the National Healthcare Professionals Registry and Health Facility Registry. Additionally, it is mandatory for hospitals to have stable internet connectivity and functional hardware at all counters. State mission directors have been instructed to oversee this operation and complete the program within the stipulated timeframe.

Experts have welcomed this initiative. Abhishek Trigunait, co-founder of Impruzo, stated that this project will bring a major change at the ground level and reduce patient waiting time. Dr. Vikram Thaploo, CEO of Apollo TeleHealth, also emphasized that digital transformation should not be limited to digitizing paperwork.

In September 2021, the government launched the 'Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission', which aims to establish digital connectivity between hospitals, clinics, labs, and pharmacies. Currently, there are approximately 12 lakh health facilities operating in India, which are targeted to be connected to this digital network.