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The Indian government launched the world’s largest and most ambitious healthcare system  - Ayushman Bharat or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) in September, 2018 and has taken the first steps towards implementing a digital healthcare system in India. Additionally, the NITI Aayog has already announced the National Health Stack (NHS), which is widely accepted as a step towards better healthcare.

This is the future of the Indian healthcare delivery system which is pivoted around an efficient healthcare delivery and on a more accessible, cost effective, cashless and digital health infrastructure.

The PMJAY scheme is expected to benefit up to 55 crore people and provide annual health cover of `5 lakh for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation through a network of Empaneled Health Care Providers (EHCPs) including private hospitals and health practitioners. A robust IT system has been put in place to ensure the implementation of this scheme using a large network of public and private hospitals. A digital health care system can make cashless and paperless healthcare more accessible for the masses in India and is the future of public health in India.

The primary focus should be on medical record entry and protection of this data. Presently, this is a major challenge for Ayushman Bharat. Lastly, technical experts, a truly digital system, a strong delivery system, mutual collaboration with stakeholders, calibration package rates and a standard treatment protocol are equally needed to ensure quality healthcare delivery in India.

Dr. Indu Bhusan, CEO, Ayushman Bharat, said, “This collaboration is part of our practice of mutual learning from the industry to improve design and implementation of PMJAY, with the well-being of the last mile beneficiary as our focus. We look forward to active and sustained contribution of the National Health Authority- Ayushman Bharat and Healthcare Federation of India towards the improvement of quality of healthcare and increasing private investment in health infrastructure in our country.”