Lok Sabha Question No. 2190 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-06
Subject: Digitalisation of Health Sector
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, NARANBHAI KACHHADIA, RODMAL NAGAR, P.P. CHAUDHARY, ARJUN RAM  MEGHWAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2190 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 TH MAY, 2016

## DIGITALISATION OF HE ALTH SECTOR

2190. SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

SHRI NAGAR RODMAL:

SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY:

SHRI ARJUN MEGHWAL:

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 alongwith 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?

## ANSWER 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,Gove has worked out a detailed project report for Health Mission Mode Project under Digital I Programme,  focusing  on  key  pillars  such  as  hospital  information  system,  Electronic  H Recordfacilitated with health information exchange, online delivery of services, citize 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 acce nationwide. M oHFW is also in the process of setting up of National eHealth Authority (NeH as a statutory body for promotion/adoption of eHealth standards, to enforce privacy & s measures for electronic health data, and to regulate storage & exchange of Electro nic Health Records.

Apropos the above objective of digitising healthcare, Government has undertaken var initiatives and some of such key/recentinitiatives include:

- i. Under NHM, States/UTs are being provided assistance to computerise various hospita 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  h information.
- iii. Online  Registration  System  (ORS)  has  been  started  to  provide  online  registration 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.
5. (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 following information (multi - lingual) is available for citizens on the National Health Port (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  launche 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. VariousMobile  applications  and  widgets have  been  developed  to  access  the  features  and facilities o f 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 Indradhanus h Immunization mobile app .
- vi. A toll - free number for citizens to access reliable, easy to understand and multilingual information available on NHP.

(c): The  aforementioned  activities  in  areas  of  digital  healthcare  including  awareness  platfo 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 onlineapplications  viz. .  health  facilities directories,  blood  bank  availability,  registration/appointment  in  hospitals,  payment  for feedback mechanism etc.
5. Ensuring rationalization of treatment and avoidance of duplication of investigation.
6. Aid ing 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 crea online clinical and non - cli ical learning materials that can transform system of training and distance education.