Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched its nationwide roll-out, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission to provide a digital health ID to people which will contain their health records.

The key components of this scheme, which is also called the National Digital Health Mission or the PM Digital Health Mission, are a health identity card for every citizen, a healthcare professionals registry, and healthcare facilities registries that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine. This mission will create interoperability within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface in revolutionising payments.

The pilot project of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission had been announced by the prime minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2020.Currently, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is being implemented in a pilot phase in six union territories.

The platform has been planned to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of health service delivery. The health ID will be in the form of a mobile application of website; which is basically a digital format of all his/her health records which will be linked to the registry of doctors and health facilities across the country.

This health account will contain details of  every test, every disease, the doctors visited, the medicines taken and the diagnosis. This information will be very useful as it is portable and easily accessible even if the patient shifts to new place and visits a new doctor.

National digital health mission is a holistic, voluntary healthcare programme which will integrate doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, insurance companies and make a digital health infrastructure. The health ID card is created with details like Aadhar and mobile number and generate unique ID for each individual. The national digital health mission includes health ID, digidoctor, telemedicine, ePharmacy, healthcare registry and personal health records digitally stored.

From a doctor’s appointment to hospitalisation for any treatment, this ID will become essential. One copy of a patient’s records are stored in their doctor’s files and one is stored in their own individual locker (which can be owned by a company or by the government).