Health cloud – ABHA health ID and the impact on Indian healthcare

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to reform the country’s healthcare sector. This plan involves a unique health ID for each individual as well as digital health solutions offered by hospitals across India, simplifying the hospital procedure. India’s inhabitants’ health records would be digitally recorded and presented. According to the National Health Authority’s official website, health ID is the first step in creating secure and efficient digital health data for Indian residents. The health card will grant access to the person’s and his or her family’s digital records. The citizen will be able to view and share personal health data with their consent, allowing them to interact with healthcare providers and payers.

At the moment, the usage of digital health ID in hospitals is confined to a single hospital or a particular group, and it is mostly focused on major private chains. The new project will unify the ecosystem’s many components onto a single platform.

For example, if a patient is being treated at a hospital in Delhi and wishes to transfer to another hospital in a different city that is also part of the centralized ecosystem, the patient does not need to transport physical health records or files from previous years of treatment because the medical history is readily available.

It is also easy to discover doctors and experts in your area, thanks to the system. Many patients already rely on referrals from family and friends for medical advice, but the new platform will advise them who to contact and where they can find them. The new platform will also make it easier to identify laboratories and medication retailers for better testing.

Another impact of this initiative could be the rise in popularity of tele- or video-consultations, because this digital ecosystem will bring hospitals, doctors, and patients online – on a single platform – by digitizing their health records.

Due to physical and economic obstacles, many individuals in rural areas do not have access to healthcare. The ABHA may be able to assist in closing that gap. The reform will provide ease to everyone, which will almost certainly lead to improved health results. Then there is the advantage of permission.

Digital health records can only be shared with the consent of the individual, which might be permanent, temporary, or time-limited. This information can be anonymized and utilized for epidemiological and research purposes. When a large number of people digitize their medical records, the data gathered may be used to provide real-time feedback to our different healthcare programs and treatments. ABHA is not only for patients, it also provides a fantastic chance for doctors, health-tech companies, and legislators. To forecast treatment outcomes, optimum treatment regimens, or monitor illness patterns on a national level for prompt action, tools like data analytics and artificial intelligence can be used.

Advanced analytics capabilities, including data visualiza­tion tools, would be included in the planned analytics platform, allowing policymakers, academics, and the general public to develop a wide range of reports. Under the NDHM data sharing policy, any interested stakeholder will be allowed to access data from the analytics platform. The union government promises that the data will not contain any personally identifiable information and that it will adhere to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, the majority of which will be developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Health.

Needless to say, there is a lot of opportunity for development and growth in India’s digital healthcare sector. ABHA is a push in the right direction. Although comprehensive health digitization in India is unlikely to happen for decades, it would be interesting to watch how the ABHA might speed up the process.