MP to expand digital health services to remotest areas under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
Bhopal, July 8
Madhya Pradesh will extend digital health services to every citizen, including those living in the remotest parts of the state, under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla said on Wednesday.
Reviewing the implementation of the mission, Shukla said the state government is committed to building an integrated digital health ecosystem to provide faster, transparent and quality healthcare across the state.
"The objective of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is to develop an integrated and interconnected digital health ecosystem in the country. Through this mission, citizens are being provided with a unique digital health identity -- the ABHA ID -- enabling them to securely access and share their health records," Shukla said.
He directed officials to expedite the registration of government and private health institutions, doctors, nurses, dentists, AYUSH practitioners and other healthcare professionals.
He also stressed the need for training, technical support and regular monitoring to boost the adoption of digital services.
"Our priority is to ensure that every citizen, including those living in remote areas, benefits from digital healthcare. Technology should make health services more accessible, efficient and transparent," Shukla said.
According to Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission CEO Arvind Kumar Shah, nearly 5.86 crore ABHA IDs have been generated in Madhya Pradesh.
Around 20,000 health institutions have been registered under the Health Facility Registry (HFR), while nearly 18,000 healthcare professionals have joined the Health Professional Registry (HPR).
Officials said the HPR is creating a verified digital database of licensed healthcare professionals, while the HFR is registering hospitals, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies and wellness centres to integrate them with digital health services.
The state has also operationalised the 'Scan and Share' facility in 533 health institutions, where more than 1.07 crore digital OPD tokens have been generated.
Patients can scan a hospital's QR code through the ABHA app, share their details with consent and receive a digital OPD token, reducing waiting time.
"The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will improve continuity of care, enhance the quality of health services and bring greater transparency to healthcare administration," Shukla said, adding that the government is working to ensure every eligible institution and healthcare professional becomes part of the digital health ecosystem.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Good intention but the ground reality is different. Many remote areas don't even have proper internet connectivity or smartphones. How will they generate these ABHA IDs? Need to first fix the digital infrastructure.
Just last week my father visited a government hospital in Bhopal and the Scan and Share facility saved us from standing in long queues. This digital push is actually helping reduce wait times. More hospitals should come on board! 🎉
This is nice on paper, but I'm worried about data privacy. When all our health records are digital, what's to stop them from being misused? Already too many data leaks happening these days. Government should have strict safeguards.
Bhai, 5.86 crore ABHA IDs in MP alone? That's impressive but only if they're actually being used. How many people even know they have one? The real work is awareness and training in villages where people can't even read Hindi properly.
As someone who works in rural healthcare, I've seen how hard it is for patients to keep paper records. Digital health ID will make it easier for doctors to see complete history, especially for chronic diseases like diabetes and BP. Hope they train the ASHA workers well for this. 🙏
M Michael C