National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) Review By Union Health Minister:
Union Health Minister reviews implementation of the National Digital Health Mission and Ayushman Bharat – PMJAY. The National Health Mission (NHM) was launched by the government of India in 2013.
National Health Mission:
The National Health Mission (NHM) was launched by India`s government in 2013, replacing the National Rural Health Mission and the National Urban Health Mission. It was extended further in March 2018, to last until March 2020. It is directed by the Director of the Mission and monitored by the appointed National Level Monitors of the Government of India.
Some of the Objectives of the National Digital Health Mission:
-Establishment of Digital Health Systems.
-Creation of Registries
-Enforcement of adoption of open standards by all national digital health stakeholders
-Establishment of Standardized personal health records
-Enterprise-class health application systems.
Salient Features of National Digital Health Mission:
1.The institutional framework of the mission runs at different levels starting from the apex level, followed by the board of directors, CEO and operations.
2.It is an IT-enabled healthcare infrastructure system
3.Health ID-It will be a directory of all the information relevant to health. Every participating stakeholder will be part of this health ID system on a voluntary basis, including healthcare providers and Indian residents. Each citizen interested in accessing the benefits of this mission will establish a unique health ID.
4.Health data consent managers will be linked with unique health IDs of the patients; who will aid the seamless exchange of the health records between the patient and the doctors.
5.The healthcare services will be provided through a mobile app or through an official website.
6.He/she will be the one responsible for delivering health services throughout the region. Digi Doctor. As a remote doctor, an interested healthcare professional will act to offer prescriptions to patients sitting in a different position altogether. Free digital signatures that can be used to administer medications will be assigned to him or her.
Ayushman Bharat Programme:
The Ayushman Bharat programme was launched in 2018 to address health issues at all levels – primary, secondary, and tertiary. It has two components: i) Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PM-JAY), earlier known as the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) ii) Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs)
An integrated solution comprising health insurance and primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare is Ayushman Bharat. The HWCs are aimed at increasing access at the primary level to cheap and quality healthcare services. PM-JAY will cover financial insurance at the secondary and tertiary level for the use of health care facilities. With over 50 crore recipients, Ayushman Bharat is the largest government-funded healthcare programme in the world. It was dubbed `Modicare`.
Need for Ayushman Bharat:
♦ The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO71st )`s round revealed several grim statistics about the healthcare system in the country.
♦ About 86% of rural households and 82% of urban households do not have access to healthcare insurance.
♦ Over 17% of the country’s population spend a minimum of 1/10th of their household budgets on availing health services.
♦ Unexpected and serious healthcare problems often lead families to debt.
♦ Over 19% and over 24% of urban and rural households, respectively, meet their financial needs for healthcare by borrowing.
♦ To address these serious concerns, the government launched the Ayushman Bharat programme along with its two submissions, PMJAY and HWCs, under the National Health Policy 2017.