FPJ finds out about the nitty gritties of the national health ID system and what are the modalities

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 27, 2021 announced a nationwide rollout of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), a scheme that will enable Indians to create and access digital health records

Every Indian will get a unique 14-digit health identification (ID) number under the mission which has been renamed as the Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission (PM-DHM). The Health ID is created by using a person’s basic details and mobile number or Aadhaar number. This will make it unique to the person, who will have the option to link all of their health records to this ID.

Each Health ID will be linked to a health data consent manager — such as National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) — which will be used to seek the patient’s consent and allow for seamless flow of health information from the Personal

Health Records module.

The mission will create electronic medical records (EMR) for each individual, according to the NDHM’s website, which will allow doctors to track data over time, easily identify which patients are due for preventive screenings or checkups, check how their patients are doing on certain parameters (such as blood pressure readings) and monitor and improve overall quality of care within the practice.

The origin of the National Digital Health Mission goes back to the National Health Policy of 2017, which proposed a new National Digital Health Authority. In July 2019, the National Digital Health Blueprint was released by a committee headed by former UIDAI chairman Satyanarayana. The blueprint recommends two building blocks—Personal Health Identifier (PHI), and Health Master Directories & Registries—for handling the requirements of unique identification of persons, facilities, diseases and devices. These building blocks will be equipped with the interoperability option to seamlessly access digital records.

Aadhaar will be at the centre of building the digital health mission.