National Digital Health Mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 2020 Independence Day speech announced a major digital initiative in the form of National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
The project will provide a health ID to every person in the country, and benefit the poor. The prime minister said that whatever medicine a doctor prescribed, when was it prescribed, what were the reports – all this information will be linked to a person’s health ID.

The blueprint of the programme was launched last year. It seeks to provide efficient and affordable health coverage through a wide-range of data and infrastructure services.
The key feature of this mission is the technology part – it will leverage open digital systems to provide high-quality healthcare for all. It will integrate various digital health services to create an ecosystem which can assimilate existing health information systems.
The government has said that it will ensure security and privacy of personal information.

Under NDHM, Indian citizens will get a digital health ID which is basically a digital format of all his/her health records which will be linked to the registry of doctors and health facilities across the country.
The government has said that enrollment in the initiative will be voluntary.
The health ID will contain information about medical data, prescriptions and diagnostic reports and summaries of previous discharge from hospitals for ailments. The mission is expected to bring efficiency and transparency in healthcare services in the country.

The NDHM aims to liberate citizens from the challenges of finding the right doctors, seeking appointment with them, payment of consultation fee, making several rounds of hospitals for prescription sheets and will empower all Indians with the correct information and sources enabling them to take an informed decision to avail the best possible healthcare.
The NDHM comprises six key building blocks or digital systems – HealthID, DigiDoctor, Health Facility Registry, Personal Health Records, e-Pharmacy andTelemedicine – that will enable access to timely, safe and affordable healthcare through a ‘citizen-centric’ approach.

The National Health Authority (NHA), the apex agency responsible for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), has been given the mandate by the government to design, build, roll-out and implement the NDHM in the country.

Dr. Indu Bhushan, Chairman, National Health Authority, said the National Digital Health Mission will soon be ready for a nationwide roll-out.
The digital health mission has been launched in six Union Territories and was set for an all-India launch.

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