Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to Launch Today; Health Identification Feature For All

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is scheduled to be launched today by the Prime Minister via video conference, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Among the highlights of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is a health identification feature for the public. Announcement of the nationwide launch of the digital mission will be made at 11 a.m. from today.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is currently being piloted in six union territories in the country, after it was announced during the Red Fort Independence Day celebrations on August 15 last year. The program will be released after a pilot test of the system in the union territories. The Ayushman Bharat digital mission will also allow private players to become part of the healthcare ecosystem.

Ayushman Bharat digital mission includes a health identification function for citizens. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission health ID will be linked to a health account that can house people's digital health records. Since they are uploaded online, they can be accessed via computers or smartphones, with the user's consent. Adding a medical ID could prove quite useful in a country like India, where patient medical records are rarely complete or readily available. The announcement of the launch of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission also coincides with the third anniversary of the launch of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, also known as the AB PMJAY program.

In addition to health identification for citizens, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will also include two new registries as part of a push to help health professionals and healthcare providers such as hospitals and clinics: a Health Facilities Registry and a Registry of Health Professionals. Private actors can also become Health Information Users or Health Information Providers, granting them access to the digital health ecosystem created by the government.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is part of the aforementioned program that works under the National Health Authority, a lead body tasked with implementing the largest public health insurance/assurance scheme in the country. It is also charged with creating and enhancing the national digital health mission, to create a national digital health ecosystem, according to the NHA website.