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The NHA has asked eight states to complete the registration of the facilities by 30 September. Image: pexels.com
New Delhi: The National Health Authority (NHA) has called on eight States, including some of India’s top performers in health outcomes, to finalise the registration of state-run public health facilities on the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) platform by 30 September.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, and Delhi are yet to verify their government-run health facilities for inclusion in the Health Facility Registry (HFR).
Except for Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, all these States are governed by non-Bharatiya Janata Party administrations.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu are recognised among the leaders in the Niti Aayog’s ‘Performance in Health Outcomes Index’.
The HFR is a crucial component of the ABDM, a Central initiative designed to establish a national digital health ecosystem. The HFR aims to be a comprehensive repository of all health facilities in the country, encompassing both private and public sectors, including hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies.
The health facility registry
The creation of the HFR for all health facilities is a key step towards the digitisation of India’s health system. Currently, 320,000 health facilities are registered in the HFR.
There is a notable disparity between the facilities listed on the National Health Resource Repository (NHRR), an older database, and those registered on the HFR. Established in 2018, the NHRR aimed to compile data on all public and private healthcare institutions in India in collaboration with the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI).
For example, Tamil Nadu has 15,769 government hospitals listed on the NHRR but only 500 registered on the HFR. Odisha has 9,096 government hospitals on the NHRR but only four on the HFR. Similarly, Uttarakhand lists 3,184 public hospitals on the NHRR but only 1,855 on the HFR, while Delhi has 1,811 public health institutions on the NHRR but only 999 on the HFR.
Deadline communiated to States
Dr Basant Garg, Additional CEO of NHA, noted in a recent communication to state governments that "all public health facilities need to be registered on the HFR. The NHA offers a bulk-upload feature for state Mission Directors to facilitate this process. We request that you utilise this feature or instruct all state government-owned health facilities to complete their registration by 30 September 2024."
The NHA also previously directed state governments to expedite the verification process for hospitals listed on the ABDM platform to ensure accuracy and prevent fraud.
ABDM’s primary mandate is to develop digital health IDs for citizens. To date, approximately 660 million Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs have been created, enabling the exchange of medical records within the ABDM network.
Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson remain unanswered.
(By special arrangement with livemint.com)
