From District Hospitals to AIIMS, everyone is working to digitize health records as part of an incentive program

Indians’ digital health records are now gaining pace thanks to district, sub-district, and taluk hospitals. Government statistics demonstrate that, thanks to the Narendra Modi-led federal government’s Digital Health Incentive Scheme, hospitals all across India, from small to large, have begun to receive a tiny extra revenue to support the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

Consider this: By connecting patients’ medical records to the Ayushman Bharat Health Account, the UHM District Male Hospital in Kanpur earned an incentive of Rs 3.66 lakh, the Tej Bahadur Sapru Hospital in Beli, Prayagraj earned Rs 2.95 lakh, and the Sonam Norboo Memorial Hospital in Ladakh earned Rs 66,000.

Every hospital is receiving incentives from the NHA (National Health Authority) for successfully registering patients in the outpatient department using a QR code scan. According to Himanshu Burad, officer on special duty (OSD) to the additional CEO at NHA, “NHA is providing Rs 20 to the hospital for producing each record and Rs 5 to the software provider business or DSC (digital solution company) for every successful transaction.

The NHA is the supreme body in charge of carrying out ABDM. He said, “On the one hand, hospitals are providing better amenities to their patients, on the other hand, they are also receiving incentives to do so. States like Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Jammu & Kashmir are frontrunners in leveraging this capacity under ABDM.

WHAT DO THE DATA IMPLY?

Data for May show that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi earned the biggest reward, totaling Rs. 13.76 lakh, followed by AIIMS, Rishikesh (Rs. 3.40 lakh), for connecting health records.

The Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civil Hospital in Lucknow came in second with earnings of Rs. 5.02 lakh, followed by the UHM District Male Hospital in Kanpur with earnings of Rs. 3.66 lakh, and the district hospital in Dharwad, Karnataka, with earnings of Rs. 2.06 lakh.

The government-run National Informatics Centre (NIC), which made Rs 63.51 lakh in May, is the program’s largest benefactor. As a DSC, it offers software to hospitals.

AN ECOSYSTEM FOR DIGITAL HEALTH IS BEING CREATED.

The NHA introduced an incentive program in January to encourage the country’s use of digital health transactions. Hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, and suppliers of digital health solutions including hospital/health management information systems and laboratory management information systems are all eligible for incentives under the program.

According to the program, qualifying health institutions and digital solutions providers may get cash rewards of up to Rs 4 crore depending on how many digital health records they produce and connect to the ABHA.

According to Burad, “The NHA is working to develop a win-win proposition for every stakeholder in the ecosystem.” “If the national digital health ecosystem is successful, hospitals provide better services, patient wait times drop, mHealth apps can demonstrate the capabilities of digital health to a potential customer, and NHA benefits.”