With reference to Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, Consider the following statements.

UPSC Prelims 2022 Question:

With reference to Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, consider the following statements:

1. Private and public hospitals must adopt it.
2. As it aims to achieve universal health coverage, every citizen of India should be part of it ultimately.
3. It has seamless portability across the country.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 3 only

c) 1 and 3 only

d) 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: Option b) 3 only

Learn more about Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission in the given explanation below.

Explanation:

• Participation of a healthcare facility or an institution in Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is voluntary and shall be taken by the respective management (government or private management). So, statement 1 is not correct.
• Its vision is to create a national digital health ecosystem that supports universal health coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely and safe manner, that provides a wide-range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems, and ensures the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information. But it is not mandatory for all citizens to get a Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) Number. Whoever wishes to participate in the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and wishes to have their records available digitally may create an ABHA Number. So, statement 2 is not correct.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Ecosystem

• Launched in 2021 during the third anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat PM Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), ABDM will connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other.
• The Mission will not only make the processes of hospitals simplified but also will increase ease of living.
• The Digital Ecosystem will also enable a host of other facilities like Digital Consultation, Consent of patients in letting medical practitioners access their records, etc.
• With the implementation of this scheme, old medical records cannot get lost as every record will be stored digitally.
• In order to create a National Digital Health Ecosystem, the NHA acts as the implementing agency of the mission.
  • An attached office of the MoHFW with full functional autonomy, NHA (National Health Agency in 2019 reconstituted as NHA) is constituted for implementing AB PM-JAY.
• The Health Facility Registry (HFR) is the core building block of ABDM that aims to serve as a single source for verified information on health facilities across the country.
• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) will have a national footprint and will enable seamless portability across the country through a Health ID – Personal Health Identifier, with supporting blocks, including adoption of Health Information Standards will play a pivotal role in national portability. So, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

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