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The Print
10-06-2025
- Health
- The Print
Bihar's quiet digital revolution: At govt hospitals, 91% of patient registrations are now paperless
The number of users of this feature stood at a mere 4 percent in April 2024. The facility, Scan and Share, under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), was launched in 2021 and has now been rolled out widely in public hospitals for outpatient department (OPD) registration in the state. It is aimed at solving the problem of long queues at health facilities and entry of incomplete and inaccurate data by patients. Patna/ New Delhi: Over 91 percent of patients who walked into a government hospital in Bihar this May used a QR code to share their demographic details and health records, before seeing a doctor. The turning point, state health department officials said, was a decision taken by top health administrators to harness the features of Centre's ABDM and Mukhyamantri Digital Health Yojana (MDHY) in order to streamline the entire hospital journey for patients and ensure faster access to care. Bihar, show records shared by the state health department and authenticated by the Union health ministry, now ranks at the top nationally in paperless registrations at government hospitals. 'This adoption has reduced waiting time for the majority of the patients in the hospitals and enabled us to provide a more organised and transparent healthcare experience to them,' said Rajesh Kumar, administrative officer of the Bihar Health Society, who oversees the implementation of the project. In August last year, a patient had to wait 58 minutes on average in a hospital before seeing a doctor and spent an average of 70 minutes inside a facility. Last month, these figures stood at 35 minutes and 47 minutes respectively, according to data from the state health department. In the state, all 592 government facilities—from district hospital downwards—now facilitate electronic OPD registration, enabling patients to generate a unique health ID, the Ayushman Bharat Health Account or ABHA, that will contain their medical history in a longitudinal manner in the form of electronic health record (EHR), a key component of ABDM. The government is also maintaining a repository of healthcare personnel and health facilities in the form of the Health Facility Record and Health Personnel Record. The ABDM dashboard maintained by the National Health Authority (NHA), the agency under the Union health ministry, which implements the project, shows that the total number OPD registrations under the mission since its inception in 2021 stands at 11.41 crore. Of these, Bihar accounts for 2.95 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 2.26 crore. In Bihar, the implementation process has been supplemented by the launch of BHAVYA (Bihar Health Application Visionary Yojana for All)—as part of MDHY—which saw the roll out of the state's own health information management system The system integrates hospital workflows, digitises patient journeys, and enables evidence-based policy decisions by using real-time healthcare data and is being used to implement ABDM. Also Read: How Bihar is ramping up AB-PMJAY health infra to keep patients from turning to Delhi, Vellore First state to start a control & command centre In 2023, a Control and Command Centre was started in state capital Patna—later also replicated in Uttar Pradesh—to monitor healthcare facilities data maintained as part of the ABDM in real time. For instance, it is possible for state-level health authorities to see in real time whether a doctor is available to treat patients at a given time at a remote primary health centre. 'Real-time visibility enabled through digitisation has significantly strengthened the administrative efficiency and monitoring of healthcare services,' said an official. The statistics shared by the government said that the average first patient registration time has also advanced to 8:31 am last month compared to 8:41 am in August last year, reflecting improved punctuality. Manpower is now being utilised more efficiently, leading to improved operational effectiveness, while doctor consultation times have also improved, with enhanced presence and accountability at the facilities, officials of the state health department said. Nearly a year ago, the Centre also started real time monitoring of all Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU) in district hospitals. This, according to officials, was aimed at ensuring required treatment to newborns and reducing Infant Mortality Rate (IMR). Bihar, as per the Sample Registration Survey 2021 released by the Registrar General of India in May this year, recorded 27 infant deaths per thousand live births—exactly the same as the national average. But some public health activists ThePrint spoke with underlined that while the state was working on improving healthcare services, it was still a long way before it could compete with most developed states. 'In terms of infrastructure, resource deployment and adoption of digitisation, Bihar has come ahead remarkably over the last few years but the quality of services are still not up to mark in many government and private facilities,' said Navin Srivastava who is associated with Jan Swasthya Abhiyan in Bihar, a patient rights group. (Edited by Sanya Mathur) Also Read: Over 40% hospitals below district level lack basic diabetes, hypertension drugs—ICMR-WHO survey of 7 states
The Hindu
09-06-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Bihar leads in in scan and share facility under Ayushman Bharat Mission
With a 92% online Out-Patient Department (OPD) registration rate at government health facilities, Bihar has recorded the highest number of Quick Response (QR) code scans for patient services under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), emerging as the leading State in the country for the 'scan and share' facility. According to the ABDM dashboard maintained by the National Health Authority (NHA), the total number of OPD registrations under the Mission since its inception in 2021 stands at 11.38 crore. Of these, Bihar accounts for 2.94 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 2.25 crore and Andhra Pradesh at 1.70 crore. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is a national initiative aimed at establishing a digital health ecosystem by connecting patients, healthcare providers, and administrators through interoperable digital systems. For patients, the Mission translates into reduced waiting times and digitised documentation, encompassing basic vitals, doctors' prescriptions, diagnostic recommendations and results, and medicine dispensation. 'This also eliminates the need to store bulky hospital paperwork. The entire patient record is available at the click of a button,' Rajesh Kumar, Administrative Officer, State Health Society, Bihar, said. Senior State health officials noted that Bihar's robust digital health framework has been supported through its Mukhyamantri Digital Health Yojana (MMDHY) and the Bihar Health Application Visionary Yojana for All (BHAVYA). These initiatives integrate with the national ABDM to generate unique patient health IDs, electronic health records, and to streamline healthcare processes such as OPD registration, e-prescriptions, and medicine dispensation. 'Over 14.6 lakh ABHA numbers have been created in Nalanda district. With the Personal Health Records application, patients can use the Scan-and-Share feature as soon as they come into the health facility and register themselves. They will be given a token and all the health interventions then-on are recorded digitally. This can be repeated in every visit, creating a medical history that can be accessed with permission from the patient,' Jitendra Kumar Singh, Civil Surgeon, Community Health Centre (CHC), Silao, Nalanda, said. He added that the rise in users across the State is attributed to dedicated professionals stationed at facility entry points who assist patients in logging in with their unique ABHA ID and registering under the Mission. 'There is a very deliberate and aggressive push towards ensuring that we can digitise healthcare facilities and bring patients under the Mission,' he said. Ganesh Kumar (20), a patient at CHC Silao, said that digitisation of his medical records has simplified communication with healthcare providers. 'Everything is now available on my phone and the healthcare professionals know what treatment I have been on, what tests have been done, and which medicines I have taken. Things are simpler and easier,' he said. Ganesh has been using the feature for the past year and has a record of four health interventions at the CHC. While various healthcare centres across India continue to use their own digital systems, the ABDM aims to create an open, interoperable ecosystem. According to the Central government, such an ecosystem will enable efficient creation, storage, access, and sharing of health records, thereby aiding clinical decision-making and contributing to public health and research.
United News of India
08-06-2025
- Health
- United News of India
Bihar tops the nation in digital healthcare, with over 90 per cent health facilities almost paperless
Patna, June 8 (UNI) With 92 per cent of health facilities almost going paperless, Bihar has emerged as the national frontrunner in digital transformation in healthcare, achieving the number one rank in the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) implementation. The state is setting new benchmarks in accessible and efficient public health delivery, with a remarkable 92 per cent online OPD registration rate at government health facilities and the highest number of QR code scans for patient check-ins CEO of Bihar Swasthya Suraksha Samiti, Shashank Shekhar Sinha, highlighted the state's achievements and said that the state not only leads in QR code scans for OPD registration but also tops the country in the number of Electronic Health Records (e-prescriptions) generated. He further noted that Bihar has received the highest incentives under the Central Government's Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS), which are being reinvested to strengthen the state's digital health infrastructure. State Health Committee Administrative Officer Rajesh Kumar said that the state's BHAVYA (Bihar Health Applications Visionary Yojana for All) model, aligned with ABDM, has redefined healthcare accessibility and monitoring across the state. According to Kumar, paperless health facilities under digital healthcare were possible following the 'Scan and Share' initiative under ABDM, which allows patients to scan a QR code at the entry of a health facility and directly proceed to a consultation without the hassle of long queues or paperwork. This simple yet revolutionary step, along with widespread adoption of ABHA IDs (Ayushman Bharat Health Account), has dramatically reduced patient turnaround time in government hospitals, from over an hour earlier to an average of just 45 minutes now, covering consultation to medicine disbursal. Kumar further said that Bihar's state-of-the-art Command and Control Centre, a technological nerve centre in the state capital, monitors real-time feeds from all district hospitals and health facilities across the state. It ensures prompt alerts, compliance monitoring, and smooth operations at all levels. This setup is further backed by District Command Centres and Data Analytics Units, allowing proactive identification and management of potential health emergencies by tracking disease trends and patient data in real time. Meanwhile, a nine-member delegation recently visited Bihar on a three-day tour of the state to understand the scale and impact of this digital leap. During interaction with patients at the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Silao in Nalanda district, the patients lauded the convenience and efficiency of the new digital process, describing it as a complete overhaul of the previous cumbersome system. UNI RS BD
The Wire
25-05-2025
- Health
- The Wire
Why Digital Healthcare Cannot Substitute Foundational Infrastructure
After COVID-19, digital healthcare saw an increasing global interest. Digital technologies can be instrumental for tracking epidemics, limiting transmission, developing new drugs and diagnostics, and advancing medical research to improve well-being . The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued guidelines to help countries implement technology in healthcare on a large scale. Countries like UK and US have already adopted digital technologies in health, including electronic health and medical records to improve healthcare. These aim to streamline and expand access to healthcare services by digitising patient data. India is following a similar trend, with initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aiming to address long-standing issues in India's healthcare access, quality, and affordability, factors that push 60 million people into poverty each year. While the use of technology in healthcare sounds promising, collecting electronic medical and health records for 1.4 billion citizens is complex, and may face challenges such as discrepancies in data collection, resources, and competing interests of stakeholders. Even during COVID-19, there was no clear data on deaths or shortages in services like oxygen, hospital beds, and medicines. While this would affect everyone, those facing socio-economic injustice are at greater risk. Digitising healthcare, for example, requires resources, which service providers may be reluctant to invest in. Large healthcare providers may face disruption, while smaller platforms will struggle with the resource-intensive nature of digitisation. This has led to resistance to the ABDM , particularly from stakeholders within the medical community. A major factor is the shortage of medical doctors, with the current number just exceeding one-fourth of the WHO's recommended threshold . Doctors are expected to upload patient data themselves, yet the average Indian doctor is understood to be seeing 40-60 patients a day, leaving little time for this. With consultations lasting only two minutes, healthcare professionals may overlook digital records even if available. In USA, a study found that patients are often dissatisfied with digitisation, and doctors, whose days are increasingly filled with brief encounters, find it 'downright deadening.' The study observed , 'You are sitting in front of a patient, with so many tasks and limited time, seven to 11 minutes, probably, so when do you really listen?' Discrepancies Decisions made by doctors and patients when engaging with technology-led healthcare, such as what data to collect, how much, and its accuracy, will affect ABDM's functionality and effectiveness. In the US, for example, a lawsuit was filed against an EHR system that failed to display prescribed medications correctly, showed discontinued drugs as current, and even mixed up patient profiles and notes, leading to misdiagnosis and incorrect prescriptions. In India, combining digital records and paperwork may create confusion and a tiring process as doctors would like to verify digital records against physical ones, undermining the technology's effectiveness. Even in the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) scheme, audits revealed multiple discrepancies . Adults over 18 were sometimes treated under 'paediatric specialty packages,' and 45,846 cases recorded discharge dates before admission dates. There were also instances where a single patient was listed as hospitalised in multiple hospitals. It raises the important question of how healthcare providers can act based on such inaccuracies in the datasets. While these may seem like minor or reasonable trade-offs, any error in health data can directly cost lives. In PMJAY, thousands of beneficiary cards were also cancelled, and despite requirements for unique IDs after verification, the audit uncovered over 1.57 million duplicate IDs. During the ABDM pilot, people struggled to remember their IDs and passwords, leading to duplicate IDs and inaccurate data. Even many doctors lack understanding of Health ID and its connection to electronic health records. Moreover, the involvement of multiple intermediaries, such as state agencies, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical firms, each with their own competing interests, increases the risk of fragmentation in healthcare data collection. This poses challenges in achieving interoperability. Evidence suggests that achieving interoperability in healthcare remains a challenge due to competing interests of different stakeholders. UK's NHS still struggles with interoperability due to implementation challenges, limited stakeholder engagement, and data sharing issues. Similarly, USA has not been able to achieve interoperability , despite legislation against 'information blocking.' UHID concerns The rollout of Health ID has also raised concerns around consent. During COVID-19, individuals registering for vaccination via Aadhaar on CoWIN had their UHID created, often without consent. The ABDM strategy document differentiates between Health ID creation methods: using Aadhaar for those seeking government subsidies and other forms of identity (such as email or phone number) for others. It encourages linking Aadhaar to Health ID, thereby connecting personal health records to Aadhaar details, such as receiving benefits from PMJAY. Similar to the Aadhaar project's early phase, Aadhaar became nearly indispensable between its launch and the 2016 law enactment. Mandating Aadhaar for accessing welfare programmes like PMJAY creates risks of exclusion , as seen in other welfare schemes such as food ration. Data as the means to an end In healthcare, treating data as mere exhaust rather than infrastructure can lead to misinformed decisions, compromised patient care, and missed opportunities for innovation. The potential data gaps in the ABDM, including data inaccuracies, exclusion, lack of diversity, and poor interoperability, can negatively impact the training of AI models in healthcare. For example, without effective participation from all relevant stakeholders, data from certain areas could skew policies as well as outputs produced by AI systems. While urban doctors may attribute heart disease to cardiovascular issues, rural doctors may see it linked to rheumatic heart disease, leading to biases in data sets and AI's recommendations. A similar issue is seen in the US healthcare system, where algorithmic bias led to underestimating the healthcare needs of Black patients compared to White patients with similar risk levels. While digital technologies are important, they alone cannot solve India's healthcare challenges. Strengthening foundational healthcare, especially at the grassroots level, is crucial. This includes empowering primary health centres, village-level health workers, and implementing preventive measures, which can be complemented by technological interventions to ensure equitable access. Asheef Iqubbal is technology policy researcher at CUTS International.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
WTD 2025: Bridging digital gender divide for inclusive future for India
Over the past two decades, the telecom sector has transformed the social and economic fabric of the country, serving as a powerful engine for empowerment and inclusive growth. From urban hubs to the remotest corners of rural India, telecom networks have not only connected people but have also acted as catalysts for social transformation, especially for women and marginalized communities. As we celebrate World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) with the theme, 'Gender equality in digital transformation', it is an opportunity to reflect on the telecom sector's role in narrowing the digital gender divide and also to chart the path forward for accelerating true digital inclusion. The Digital Gender Divide: A Stark Reality While digital innovations are unlocking unprecedented opportunities, the full potential of this transformation remains constrained by persistent gender gaps in digital access, participation and leadership. GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023 underscores this challenge. It says although global internet use has risen steadily, gender disparities persist. In 2023, 70% of men worldwide accessed the internet compared to just 65% of women. Telecom's Role in Driving Access and Empowerment India's telecom revolution, powered by progressive policy frameworks, continued investment and technological innovation, has played a central role in democratizing access to digital tools. The rollout of affordable mobile services and data plans, spearheaded by both private and public telecom operators, has brought internet access within the reach for millions of citizens who were previously excluded. Flagship initiatives like Digital India have further deepened this impact by acting as a catalyst to drive universal digital literacy and boost internet penetration across rural and semi-urban areas. Telecom companies have been key enablers of these goals, providing extensive network infrastructure and developing tailored solutions that make digital access affordable and inclusive. Women-Centric Telecom Initiatives India's commitment to digital inclusion is reflected in a range of ambitious Government initiatives that have empowered women to contribute towards the digital economy. Key initiatives under Digital India include the following: Prime Minister's Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA): Under the PMGDISHA, over 60 million rural citizens, mostly women, have been equipped with essential digital literacy skills, enabling them to access online services and opportunities. Common Service Centres (CSCs): The network of CSCs has seen remarkable success, with 67,000 women entrepreneurs — known as Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) — operating digital service centers that bring critical e-governance, financial and educational services to underserved communities. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): The ABDM is further bridging gaps in healthcare by enabling digital health records and telemedicine, ensuring more equitable healthcare access. The SANKALP Hubs for Women Empowerment: SANKALP hubs are active across 742 districts in 35 States and Union Territories, offering targeted skilling, mentoring and entrepreneurial support to enhance women's participation in the workforce and digital ecosystem. BharatNet: Backed by telecom companies, this national broadband initiative has connected thousands of gram panchayats, providing women-led self-help groups and entrepreneurs with new platforms for financial inclusion, health services and e-governance. In addition to these, several telecom-led programs aimed at improving digital access and skills among women have been conducted in recent years. Internet Saathi: A collaborative effort between Google and Tata Trusts, supported by telecom operators, trained over 30 million women in rural India on how to access and use the internet, creating a massive impact by improving digital literacy within communities. Customized Digital Literacy Campaigns: Telecom operators have also introduced localized campaigns to address gender-specific challenges, offering vernacular content, mobile financial literacy and safety tools that enable women to navigate the digital landscape with greater confidence. Digital Platforms Unlocking New Work Opportunities The shift towards ICT-enabled services and digital platforms has opened new employment avenues for women. Telecom networks have laid the foundation for online work, which offer flexible, remote career options, especially useful for women constrained by mobility or family responsibilities. The growth of digital commerce and social media has brought several entrepreneurial opportunities, which are reshaping the participation of women in the country's economy. Moreover, mobile-based financial services have empowered women to gain greater control over their earnings and financial decisions, accelerating their journey toward economic independence. Building the Future: The Road Ahead While significant progress has been made, the path to true digital gender equality requires sustained efforts. The telecom sector plays a major role in this mission. Expanding digital literacy initiatives through local partnerships can create grassroots impact. Equally crucial is the need to innovate around affordable access, developing inclusive pricing models and low-cost devices that make digital connectivity universally attainable. Lastly, close collaboration with policymakers is essential to establish gender-responsive frameworks that not only advance women's digital inclusion but also ensure transparent progress tracking. Together, these efforts will help build a more inclusive digital future, where every woman has the tools and opportunities to thrive. (DISCLAIMER: Views expressed are the author's own.)
