What is the NDHM?

• 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. 

NDHM in Detail

• NDHM 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.

What is a health ID?

• 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. 

Expected Benefits

• 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 and Telemedicine – that will enable access to timely, safe and affordable healthcare through a ‘citizen-centric’ approach.

Implementing agency

• • 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. 

• NHA is an attached office of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with full functional autonomy.

Why in News?

• The National Digital Health Mission (now known as Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission) was launched in 2020 as a pilot in six Union Territories – Andaman & Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
• The pilot phase of ABDM was successfully conducted between 15th August 2020 to 27th  September 2021.Three key registries of NDHM namely Health ID, Health Professional Registry (HPR), Health Facility Registry (HFR) and digital infrastructure for data exchange have been developed and implemented in these UTs. 
• On 27th September 2021, the national rollout of the ABDM was announced.
• Till 25th January 2022, 15,05,92,811 Health IDs (now known as ABHA – Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts) have been created in the country. A total of 15,016 health facilities and 8,378 doctors have been registered under the ABDM ecosystem. 
• Creation of Health ID is voluntary. National Health Authority is creating awareness among the citizens about the usages and advantages of Health ID to maximize participation from citizens.               

Reference:

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1795425