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Even as National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) envisions a unique personal health ID for every Indian citizen, digitized health records and a national registry of doctors and health facilities, Indian Medical Association (IMA) has expressed strong reservations over National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) published recently. The blueprint charts out an ambitious plan to bring about a digital ecosystem comprising digital health networks under NDHM. IMA, the largest body of allopathic practitioners in the country, has made it clear that it does not favour the content of the blueprint, its rollout plan and the administrative mechanism.
A major contention of IMA is that the country still lacks adequate healthcare infrastructure and manpower. “There is no standardization of the many streams of treatment adopted in the country. The government is adopting various strategies to allow untrained and partially trained individuals to practice medicine to address the shortage of manpower. The infrastructure deficiencies have not been addressed. Strategic purchasing through Ayushman Bharat has not made any impact due to the lack of adequate fund allocation and non-empanelment of tertiary care hospitals due to unrealistic package rates. Primary care has lost its focus and the proclaimed wellness centres have not yet made an impact,” stated IMA.IMA alleged that funding for such an ambitious project is not appropriately described in the blueprint.
NDHM: DIGITIZING HEALTHCARE
This story is from the November 2020 edition of Future Medicine India.
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This story is from the November 2020 edition of Future Medicine India.
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