The government is expected to announce National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), aimed at making better healthcare delivery across the country – digitised.
The NDHM is a part of the larger structure called the National Digital Health Blueprint that among other things proposes a unique health id on the lines of Aadhaar. The system will allow a complete registry of all doctors and medical services and personal medical history of an individual.
The proposal has received in principal approval by the cabinet and will be announced by PM on 15th of August speech from Lal Quila (Red Fort).
While users may be given an option to link their medical history to Aadhar – it might be a first step to contain any number of ailments that bug the Indian healthcare segment.
The system can be used to identify fake doctor, can ensure help control illegal sales of prescription drugs even record illegal visits to labs for pre-natal sex determination.
Although the system will be voluntary – at least initially – it can lay down foundation of a strong public healthcare including transparent usage of BPL beds in private hospitals and contain over usage of anti-biotics. It will also be a sought-after service by medical and health insurance services.
From a privacy perspective the ownership of the data will remain with the user and only they can provide consent for any usage of the same.
Once the service will be announced we can expect pilot roll outs in at least a couple of states
