Digital health has great potential towards reducing inequity in provisioning and distribution of healthcare resources and services and it can also reduce medical errors and cost of care, says Union minister J P Nadda.
 

At the Global Digital Health Partnership Symposium in Sydney, Australia, the minister for health and family welfare spoke on "the role of digital health in supporting improved health outcomes in India". He said it can facilitate treatment for disabled patients, children with developmental delays and deformities and people suffering from mental health illnesses and for those suffering from stigmatic infections such as HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis.

He said it is evident from experiences of various countries that well-designed digital health systems and services can reduce medical errors and cost of care. "We have seen many sectors benefiting from digital revolutions in the past such as retail, banking, logistics etc. The next decade of digital revolution is going to be seen in healthcare, in fact, digital revolution is long overdue in healthcare which can transform the way our physicians, nurses, field staff and hospitals work to deliver care," Nadda stated.

The Union health minister said the National Health Policy (2017) of India clearly articulates the healthcare aspirations of people of India with three distinct goals. "The first goal is to ensure district-level electronic database of information on health system components by 2020, which largely means moving away from paper-based data collection and recording in public health system to use of sophisticated computerised tools for improving functioning of hospitals and health system.

The second goal, Nadda said, is to strengthen the health surveillance system and establish registries for diseases of public health importance by 2020, with an aim to create registries to support epidemiological profiling of diseases to be better informed for targeted health interventions. "The third goal pushes us to work for establishment of federated national e-health architecture, setting-up of health information exchanges and national Health Information Network by 2025," he elaborated.

He also highlighted the work done by the ministry in building registries. "We have started building registries for health facility and have given unique identification numbers to more than 200 thousand public health facilities. Incorporation of health facilities from private sector is ongoing. Creation of registries for patients and providers is also planned to be taken-up under IHIP," Nadda added. Nadda said his ministry is in the process of setting up a National Digital Health Authority, a statutory body for creating frameworks, regulations and guidelines for interoperability and exchange of digital information.

The authority is also intended to promote adoption of eHealth standards. It will soon be set up through an Act of Parliament which would also address issues related to health data privacy and security. Reiterating India's commitment towards Digital Health, Nadda said that modernisation of healthcare through digital technology is an important public policy agenda and India is committed to modernising its health facilities and services using digital technology. Stressing on the need to build collaborations, Nadda said that cyber security and protection of privacy of patient health data are major areas where cooperation from various countries would be required.