Summary:
«Digital Health is now the default operating system of healthcare. As a country, India has currently been ranked at the top in terms of Digital Health programmes. The numbers speak for themselves. About two billion COVID vaccinations have been delivered and tracked through a digital system, about 180 million health records have been allotted, and more than 30 million digital consultations have been delivered through eSanjeevani. This is a big achievement for any developing country. When it comes to digital health, we are matching the developed countries in size and scope. Going forward, we need to have a clear plan of action for digital health, and we should avoid lobbying by vested interests, as that can derail our promising start.»
«Luckily, India does not have many legacy systems, and we will be building a healthcare system with digital health embedded in it. So, by being late, we are lucky. CO-WIN platform must go beyond COVID and should be used as a mobile healthcare exchange (MHE) for providing a host of services. This should be both; mobile and web-based to serve as an exchange, a patient portal and a mobile digital record (MDR- A longitudinal health record for every Indian). CO-WIN can become the default template for digital health and leads the way for the world to see how India has adopted digitalisation across healthcare delivery. NHA – ABDM has the appropriate institutional structure and leadership for delivering digital health. It is time to do public reviews on various aspects of delivery so that we don’t have to do expensive technology rollbacks in future. Half-yearly reviews with beneficiaries will ensure the building of a future-proof system. Also, it is time to have a minister for public and digital health.»
Article written by Prathiba Raju.
12|07|2022
Source:
Health Economic Times