ABDM MICROSITES (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Health)

Context: The National Health Authority (NHA) had announced 100 Microsites project for accelerated adoption of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) across the country. 

• Mizoram becomes the first state in India to operationalize an ABDM Microsite in its capital city Aizawl. 
• Besides Mizoram, other states including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh have also made significant progress regarding implementation of ABDM Microsites.

ABDM Microsites

• The ABDM Microsites are defined geographical regions where focused outreach efforts would be made to onboard small and medium scale private healthcare providers. 
• Under this, all healthcare facilities including the private clinics, small hospitals and labs in the region shall be made ABDM-enabled and will offer digital health services to the patients.
• These Microsites would be majorly implemented by State Mission Directors of ABDM while the financial resources and overall guidance would be provided by NHA. 
• An interfacing agency under this program will have an on-ground team to reach out to the healthcare providers in the area. 
• This team will spread awareness about the benefits of ABDM and will help the service providers to join the core registries under ABDM besides promoting the use of ABDM enable digital solutions for regular clinical documentation. 
• Patients will be able to link the health records generated at these facilities with their Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHAs) and will be able to view and share these records using any ABDM-enabled Personal Health Record (PHR) application on their phones.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission (ABDM)

• About: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission aims to provide digital health IDs for all Indian citizens to help hospitals, insurance firms, and citizens access health records electronically when required.

• Origin: It was launched in September 2021 by the Prime Minister.

• The pilot project of the Mission had been announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15th August 2020.
• Implementing Agency: National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• Key Features: 

• Health ID: It is issued for every citizen that will also work as their health account which contain details of every test, every disease, the doctors visited, the medicines taken and the diagnosis.

• Health ID is free of cost, voluntary. It will help in doing analysis of health data and lead to better planning, budgeting and implementation for health programs.

• Healthcare Facilities & Professionals’ Registry: A comprehensive repository of all healthcare professionals involved in delivering healthcare services across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.

• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Sandbox: A framework that allows technologies or products to be tested in the contained environment in compliance with ABDM standards.