by Suman Gupta
New Delhi, March 23, 2024: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) adoption needs to be accelerated in private sector through effective participation of policy makers, healthcare technology platforms and patients, according a NatHealth-Arthur D. Little report titled “Catalyzing Digital Health in India – Critical pathways for user adoption & driving the next wave of transformational use cases.”
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) spearheads India’s digital healthcare transformation, striving to ensure healthcare affordability and accessibility for all. Despite strong demand and a comprehensive rollout, private healthcare providers are slow to adopt digital technologies.
Challenges include unclear guidelines, additional investment requirements, data security concerns, and subdued pull from individuals. Arthur D. Little (ADL) emphasizes proactive adaptation to digital healthcare, proposing key strategies to boost ABDM adoption. These include fostering engagement between policymakers and providers, addressing data security issues, creating pull from individuals and soft push from providers. ABDM adoption promises advancements in preventive healthcare and organ donation
Vikas Kharbanda, Partner- Healthcare and Life Sciences, Arthur D. Little, said “Digitization is pivotal for advancing Indian healthcare goals and addressing industry challenges. The Indian government’s ambitious ABDM project aims to deliver affordable and accessible healthcare nationwide. Presently, Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs have reached 40% penetration among the population, with 2.3 lakh Health Facility Registrations (HFRs) established, predominantly in the public sector. However, the private sector lags behind, contributing only 30% of HFRs and 17% of Health Professionals Registry (HPRs). Small and medium providers show minimal digital adoption.”
“Consultations with leading hospitals and diagnostic centers highlight several challenges in ABDM adoption, including unclear guidelines, low adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), concerns about data security, and the need for financial investment. Patient engagement remains subdued due to limited awareness about ABHA and ABDM benefits, restricted ABHA ID usage opportunities, and data security worries. Addressing these challenges requires two-way engagement between policymakers and providers, including awareness campaigns to generate pull from individuals and creating soft push from providers to accelerate ABHA adoption” Mr. Kharbanda added.
Digitization can have very significant use cases like increasing penetration of ultrasound devices and accelerating organ donation and its effectiveness through digitization. Data from 90+ RTIs filed across 11 states highlighted that preventive healthcare still lags in India with only 78,000 ultrasound devices registered for more than 140 crore population. NCDs are a significant burden on India’s healthcare system as they account for 60% of all the deaths in the country and is predicted to account for 75% of all deaths by 2030, despite government interventions.
Brajesh Singh, President, Arthur D Little India, said, “The digital transformation of regulatory processes of ultrasound poses a significant opportunity to increase the adoption of digital health in India and thereby shifting focus to preventive healthcare. The proposed Digital Governance System for ultrasound, in integration with ABDM, is set to transform healthcare accessibility, overcome regulatory obstacles, decrease the burden of NCDs, provide better maternity and child healthcare, and establish India as a leader in health-tech innovation.”
India lags behind the global average in organ donation and transplantation rates per capita, highlighting a substantial disparity between organ supply and demand. “A digital transformation is essential to streamline processes, enhance transparency, and boost accessibility in organ donation while also addressing potential unethical practices. There is a need of a 3P approach– Policy changes, People awareness, and Process improvements to enhance the organ donation and transplantation system” Mr Singh added.
Mr. J Satyanarayan, Former Chairman, UIDAI, said, “Let us heed the call to action by harnessing the core building blocks of ABDM as our guiding light. Create ‘Mega Sites’ programme to insentivize major service providers to create & and provide personal health records (PHR) to citizens. As stewards of well-being, we should aim to establish health lockers to safeguard the sanctity of life itself. Adhering to the regulations and operational guidelines under the DPDP act, we need to act together with adaptability and flourish in the divine era of ABDM.”
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