What is Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission? Who all can avail benefits under PM-DHM?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission (PM-DHM) also known as the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. The pilot project had been announced by PM Modi from the ramparts of Red Fort on 15th August 2020 and is now being implemented in the pilot phase in six Union Territories. The nation-wide rollout of PM-DHM coincided with the National Health Authority (NHA) celebrating the third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

What is Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission?

The newly rolled out digital health mission will be aimed at making a lasting platform to store and exchange health records of citizens. According to the Prime Minister's Office, the system will be based on the foundations laid down in the form of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives of the government. Using these, the PM-DHM will create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.

PMO’s statement also said that it will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens through a series of with their consent. Aimed at making easy access for healthcare facilities and tracking of health backgrounds of individuals, the key component of the mission will include a health ID for every citizen. The unique ID will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application; a Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.

The ID will allow hospitals/ doctors to easily avail a patient’s medical history saving time and effort in the process. With the mission, the government plans to form a digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface in revolutionizing payments. The mission will put citizens only be a click away from accessing healthcare facilities.

Who all can avail benefits?

Currently, the PM-DHM is being implemented in the pilot phase in six Union Territories. Here, the patients whose IDs are formed will be able to check their medical history in one click. Once provided with the needed details, hospitals as well as doctors will be able to look into the citizen’s medical details with ease using the platform. PM-DHM Sandbox, created as a part of the mission, will act as a framework for technology and product testing that will help organizations, including private players, intending to be a part of the National Digital Health Ecosystem become a Health Information Provider or Health Information User or efficiently link with building blocks of the mission.

Image: PTI