New Delhi: India’s National Health Authority (NHA), in collaboration with the National Cancer Grid (NCG), is set to launch a pilot under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to streamline sharing of medical records across hospitals for cancer patients who often visit multiple facilities.
Through seamless exchange of medical records accessible to doctors within the ABDM network, the initiative aims to ensure continuity of care.
This is important as the cancer burden is very high in India, where there will be 1.46 million cancer patients by 2022.
ABDM-enabled electronic medical record systems
Leading government and trust hospitals treating cancer, including PGIMER (Chandigarh), Tata Memorial Hospital (Mumbai), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS Jodhpur) and National Cancer Institute (Jhajhar), will test the adoption of ABDM-enabled electronic medical record systems or health management information systems.
The pilot aims to scan records and share them seamlessly with departments such as radiology, ENT and respiratory units at participating hospitals and with tertiary care providers.
Medical records will be shared only with the consent of the patient using their digital health ID (ABHA ID).
“We are very optimistic about this project. Cancer is one of those diseases that requires patients to visit healthcare facilities frequently. Hence, the pilot is proposed to demonstrate the importance of maintaining longitudinal health history and health records systematically,” said an official of a participating hospital, requesting anonymity.
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In May, stakeholders met to strategize for the launch of the pilot project, highlighting ABDM’s potential to digitally integrate healthcare services and reduce frequent tests and patient costs.
“ABDM has the potential to bridge the existing gap between various stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem through digital means. This is especially beneficial for patients with chronic diseases like cancer, where patients have to travel multiple places for care, from one hospital to another, for a long time,” the person cited above said.
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“When a patient moves from one care facility to another, there is often a problem of unavailability of standardized electronic health data, which leads to repeated tests and increased expenditure for the patient,” he said.
Implementation of this initiative will help patients, hospitals, physicians, and other stakeholders understand the benefits of ABDM, and its results may help determine how this system can be scaled up to benefit patients undergoing treatment for chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and kidney complications.
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NHA aims to establish a digital health ecosystem in India and support healthcare facilities including clinics, diagnostic centres, hospitals, laboratories and pharmacies in adopting the ABDM ecosystem to enhance healthcare services for all Indian citizens.
Queries sent to the Health Ministry spokesperson could not be answered till press time.
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Published: June 16, 2024, 05:32 PM IST
