Ayushman Bharat reaches milestone as over 30 crore Indians get access: Mansukh Mandaviya

NEW DELHI: In a significant milestone for India’s healthcare landscape, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that over 30 crore people have now benefited from the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

This flagship health insurance scheme provides free secondary and tertiary healthcare coverage to eligible families across the country. “The country is becoming Ayushman! More than 30 crore people got @NarendraModi Prime Minister’s guarantee of free treatment”, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya posted on X.

As many as 50 crore individuals have an Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number as their unique health identity; over 1.5 crore patients have used ABHA-based instant OPD registration service and more than 50 lakh people are using the ABHA app to manage their health records digitally.

“Till December 22, 50 crore individuals have the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) as their unique health ID under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. Health facilities like hospitals, clinics, labs, etc., insurance companies and other healthcare service providers are using ABHA for patient registrations. This has further enabled the digital linking of patient records with their ABHA accounts. To date, over 33 crore health records have been linked with ABHA accounts of the patients”, the Health Ministry said on Friday.

Speaking on the mission’s progress, the CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA) said, “In the last two years since launching ABDM, the response from the entire ecosystem, including patients, healthcare service providers, state teams, policymakers and health tech innovators, has been quite encouraging. With collective efforts from the industry towards the adoption of ABDM, we aim to take the benefits of digital health services to the remotest corners of the country. As more and more people start using ABHA-based services, we get closer to our goal of making healthcare more accessible and efficient”.

Patients are using the ABHA app to securely manage their health records in a digital format replacing the old medical files and paper-based record-keeping methods. The ABHA app is available for Android as well as iOS users. The ABHA number is also being used by patients to avail themselves of instant registration services at hospitals.

The scan and share service launched under ABDM enables patients to scan the QR code placed at Out Patient Department (OPD) counters in hospitals and share their ABHA profiles for instant registration. “This service has helped close to 1.5 crore patients save time spent in OPD registration queues daily. Even the health facilities can manage the patients as well as patient records better with ABHA-based registrations, it said.

ABDM is essentially connecting all stakeholders in the health sector via digital highways. Like ABHA numbers for patients, the healthcare service providers are also being verified and registered.

ABDM’s Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) has 2.6 lakh verified doctors and nurses, while the Health Facility Registry (HFR) has 2.26 Lakh hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies etc. registered. Further, over 56,000 hospitals across the country use ABDM-enabled solutions.

To further promote digital health adoption at the service provider level, NHA launched a Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS) that gives incentives to health facilities, insurance companies and health solution providers based on the progress made in ABHA-linked health records.

For active adoption of ABDM by smaller health facilities from the private sector, NHA announced the 100 Microsites project in July 2023. Under this project, 29 Microsites are already active across 10 states and UTs.

India has wholeheartedly acknowledged and accepted digital services. From digital identity to digital payments, daily transactions have transformed from paper-based, queue systems and manual processes to digital, queue-less and instant services. With ABDM, the health sector is transforming itself and adding the ease of digital access for all stakeholders. (ANI)