Govt Eying Towards Healthtech Startups: Ayushman Bharat

With an aim to resolve the challenges faced by Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY), the Indian government’s ambitious healthcare insurance scheme, the government is eyeing towards the Indian healthtech startups to bring about innovative solutions under the Ayushman Bharat Start-up Grand Challenge, cited Inc42.

The move has comes in order to bring smart and simple solutions to these challenges faced by the AB-PMJAY.

As per the sources, for the challenges, the central government is planning to get healthtech startups engaged in various sectors Medical Devices, Digital Health, Health Communications, Hospital services and Hospital Management, Medical workforce training and capacity building, among others to solve a set of problem statements.

Ayushman Bharat is an Indian government flagship scheme to provide healthcare benefits to about 50 Cr economically vulnerable citizens. The insurance scheme, which was launched on 23 September 2019, aims to provide healthcare coverage of up to INR 5 Lakh to 10 crore poor households in India.

The Selected startups will have to pitch their innovative solutions in front of a jury panel.

The winners of the challenge will be awarded fiscal benefits in the form of a cash price, which has not been disclosed.

Moreover, besides helping in the implementation of AB-PMJAY, the winners will also get an opportunity to conduct pilots for the innovation, along with other healthcare giants.

Indu Bhushan, CEO of NHA, said, “We have been witnessing a plethora of healthcare innovations happening across the country and it is crucial to empower them by providing the right support. Our main objective was to showcase an enabling healthcare innovation ecosystem that supports healthcare innovators and provides them with opportunities to partner and scale.”

The platform will also provide opportunities to startups working in the digital healthcare sector to engage with mentors and formulate industry partnerships and technology development assistance.-The Indian Wire