The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday shared an explainer on how Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA) are facilitating cashless transactions and managing financial aspects related to healthcare services under the ‘Ayushman Bharat’ scheme.
ABHA,
a key component of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
(AB-PMJAY), is an account/number used to link all the health records of a
person.
According
to the health ministry, ABHA reduces out-of-pocket expenses for beneficiaries
and improves access to quality healthcare.
By
enabling cashless transactions and electronic health records, ABHA minimises
administrative hassles and delays, allowing healthcare providers to focus on
patient care.
In
addition, ABHA generates valuable data insights that can be used for
evidence-based decision-making and policy formulation, which helps in
addressing healthcare challenges effectively and improving the overall quality
of care.
"ABHA
intends to create a digital health ecosystem and aims to promote digitisation
of healthcare. Any individual can enroll in Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
(ABDM) to generate a Health ID or ABHA, free of cost," the health ministry
noted.
With
the ABHA mobile application, individuals can effortlessly access and share
their health records digitally. It allows patients to seamlessly receive
digital lab reports, prescriptions, and diagnoses from various healthcare
providers, including doctors, labs, hospitals, and wellness centres.
The
ministry also addressed some of the myths that people may encounter with ABHA.
Answering
one of such myths, 'Is it possible for the government or any other entity to do
surveillance of the health status', the ministry stated: “No. The health
records are created and stored at the place of their creation by respective
healthcare providers (which is the case even now).”
"The
government will not have access to such data. No additional means of accessing
such data is being created or envisaged in the current ecosystem.”
Responding
to another myth, the health ministry said that only individuals can share their
own records with other doctors or hospitals using different digital health
systems after giving their consent.
Through technology and data-driven approaches, ABHA aims to improve access to quality healthcare and relieve financial burdens on vulnerable sections of society.
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