How To Get India's Digital Health ID Card: New Aadhaar For Your Medical Data?
Indian PM Narendra Modi announced a single digital health document for all citizens under National Digital Health Mission on Monday. With the launch of this unique digital health ID card, the medical history of each Indian will now be stored and retrieved digitally.
Officially known as the "Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission", the programme was first rolled out in union territories. On Monday, it was extended to all of India.?Currently, 15.57 lakh Indians are registered for the same. Once registration is done, users would receive a 14-digit health ID number and a Personal Health Records ?(PHR) address.
After that, one may download the virtual health card based on which medical facilities may be availed nationwide.
How to register online for digital health card
To register, go to this website where you need to click on "Generate your health ID".
To register for your digital health ID card, you can use either your Aadhaar card or your mobile number.
In addition, you will be required to put your name and gender for the registration. Uploading your picture is also an option, but not mandatory.?
In the PHR address field, you must put your email-ID, which is easier to retain than a 14 digital health ID.?
Once registration is complete, one's digital health card is ready for download. With complementary Aadhaar details, a user could also complete KYC (Know Your Customer).
Types of health data captured under the rules
A three-tier system of storage has been devised including EMR, EHR and PHR, explained.
The EMR or Electronical Medical Records is essentially a system at a medical institution which will be used diagnose and treat patients. This is the most basic form of health data storage under the new provisions. Under NDHM, EMR need to be updated in order to store data.
Also read:?Here's How You Can Find Out If Your Aadhar Card Has Been (Mis)used Somewhere
The EHR or Electronic Health Records is the the second layer of categorisation which will contain records of patients across different doctors and providers all imbibed in the preexisting health system.
The user end of it is called PHR or Personal Health Records wherein a user can compile, modify and update their health records to ensure easy access.
What about your old medical records?
Don't worry, your old medical records can be linked to the new digital health ID by using an application called "NDHM Health Records Application" which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.
Hospitals that are named in the network may use "Link option facility" in the application to register the records of their patients, which can then be scanned by patients to keep their health records safe.
Also read:?You Can Now Update Your Aadhaar Card Address Online: How To Do It
Soon, all hospitals would also receive a QR code to allow patients to link their health ID with a hospital or to access their records.?This gives power to patients, who can decide who can access their medical records and for how long they can access it.
India vs rest of the world
Just like India, many other countries are trying to embrace the digital ledgering of health data. Electronic health records are stored for a variety of reasons, including demographics, allergies, immunisation status, test results, vital signs, personal statistics, etc. With such information ready to go, the messy registration process at each hospital could be eliminated.
In Russia, a similar project was launched in 2011. Called UMIAS (Unified Medical Information and Analytical System), it connects over 660 clinics and 23,600 medical practitioners in Moscow alone. In terms of patients, UMIAS has data of 9.5 million people, containing over 359 million patient records.
Also read:?Govt Warns Of COVID-19 Vaccination Scam Where Fraudsters Ask For Aadhar And OTP
The European Union is also working on something similar. The bloc wants to centralise healthcare for all member countries and their citizens to ease availing healthcare across the continent. The European Health Insurance Card provides healthcare facilities to people of EU regardless of the country they're in - as long as its a EU member state, of which 27 currently exist.
Current methods in India are too dependent on paper. In fact, most medical records of a patient are lost and never stored. Now, doctors and hospitals in the country would be required to upload all medical details online to essentially create a single-stop destination for all things health.
What about patient's privacy?
Even then, not all countries are keen on a centralised health ledger for storing patient data, given security concerns and the sensitive nature of these documents. In fact, the Hippa (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability) Act in the United States requires all health institutions to follow certain rules to protect the information of patients, which is why it's unlikely for the country to embrace a single-stop digital storage locker for details.
While the process may ease access, it may also make user data more vulnerable. The website for storage of health records in India states that "health records are absolutely safe and secure", while adding that nobody except the patient can access these records.
Even if the government has no access, hacking such data could expose information about millions of users in a split second. Such information is capitalised on by hackers who sell it off on the dark web. It goes without saying that this digital health ID card initiative can be a convenient tool to expedite healthcare and support to people who are left out of the system, just like Aadhaar. But its security concerns and risk to patients' private data should be evaluated carefully.?
Are you game for this massive leap in terms of health data storage in India? Let us know in the comments below.?For more in the world of science and technology, keep reading Indiatimes.com.??
