Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government proposes to digitalise the health sector, if so, the details thereof along with the blue print prepared in this regard;
(b) whether the Government proposes to utilise the above digital platform to create awareness among people about healthcare initiatives, if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the extent which the digital health awareness platform is likely to benefit the people across the country?
THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
(SHRI JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA)
(a): Yes. In line with the overall objective of digitising healthcare i.e. eHealth,Government has worked out a detailed project report for Health Mission Mode Project under Digital India Programme, focusing on key pillars such as hospital information system, Electronic Health Recordfacilitated with health information exchange, online delivery of services, citizen portal, online monitoring systems for services/programmes etc.
MoHFW is working towards setting up of Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) to enable creation of interoperable health record which can be made available and accessible nationwide. MoHFW is also in the process of setting up of National eHealth Authority (NeHA) as a statutory body for promotion/adoption of eHealth standards, to enforce privacy & security measures for electronic health data, and to regulate storage & exchange of Electronic Health Records.
Apropos the above objective of digitising healthcare, Government has undertaken various initiatives and some of such key/recentinitiatives include:
i. Under NHM, States/UTs are being provided assistance to computerise various hospitals such as District/Sub-district hospitals & CHCs and implement Hospital Information System mainly for creation & maintenance of Electronic Health Records.
ii. National Health Portal (NHP) has been set up to provide healthcare related information to the citizens of India and to serve as a single point of access for consolidated health information.
iii. Online Registration System (ORS) has been started to provide online registration and online appointment services to citizens and also online viewing on laboratory test reports. As of now 36 largegovernment hospitals are providing online services through ORS.
iv. Standards for Electronic Health Record EHR had been notified by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in 2013 so as uniformity and standardisation could be ensured amongst different eHealth systems.
(b): National Health Portal set up by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is being usedfor information dissemination and for creating awareness about various Healthcare initiatives. As of now, the following information (multi-lingual) is available for citizens on the National Health Portal (www.nhp.gov.in):-
i. Health and Diseases - especially current public health alerts.
ii. Directory Services – Hospitals, Blood Banks, Ambulances – according to state / city / PIN Code.
iii. Health programmes of Government
For creating healthcare awareness using Mobile platform, Government has also launched following mHealth applications:
i. Kilkari, an audio-based mobile service, to deliver free, weekly, time-appropriate audio messages about pregnancy, child birth and child care delivery to families’ mobile phones.
ii. SMS based Programme for Tobacco Cessation.
iii. A dedicated toll free number with a call centre for reaching unreached TB patients.
iv. Various Mobile applications and widgets have been developed to access the features and facilities of the NHP through mobile phones
v. Various mobile apps were launched recently such as India Fights Dengue mobile app, NHP Swasth Bharat mobile app and NHP Indradhanush Immunization mobile app.
vi. A toll-free number for citizens to access reliable, easy to understand and multilingual health information available on NHP.
(c): The aforementioned activities in areas of digital healthcare including awareness platform are likely to benefit the people in the several ways such as:
1. Improving Health Literacy
2. Better focus on preventive & promotive healthcare along with curative healthcare
3. Better off- take of healthcare services
4. Improved & efficient delivery of services through online applications viz.. health facilities directories, blood bank availability, registration/appointment in hospitals, payment for services, feedback mechanism etc.
5. Ensuring rationalization of treatment and avoidance of duplication of investigation.
6. Aiding improved clinicians’ decision-making by providing access to patient health record information when they need it.
7. Reduce frequency of hospital visit & management of chronic diseases.
8. Continuity of care across levels of care and for reaching out to rural and remote areas through Telemedicine and m-Health applications.
9. It also has great scope along with other communication channels like the internet for creation of online clinical and non-clinical learning materials that can transform system of training and distance education.