Digital Health Incentives Scheme (DHIS)

About:

• The Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS) is a national initiative by the National Health Authority (NHA) aimed at promoting the adoption of digital health practices in India.
• It was launched on January 1, 2023, under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to create a robust digital health ecosystem and enhance the quality of care for patients.
• With this extension, the scheme will now remain in effect till June 30, 2025.

Key Features and Objectives:

• Eligibility: Health facilities (hospitals, diagnostic labs), digital solution companies, and other healthcare providers are eligible to participate in the scheme.
• Incentives are provided based on the number of digital health records created and linked to Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) numbers of patients.
• Healthcare institutions and digital solution entities can register for the scheme through the Health Facility Registry (HFR) and ABDM Sandbox, respectively.
• Transactions that qualify under the scheme include creating any ABHA-linked health record, such as teleconsultations, lab reports, prescriptions, etc.

Objectives and Impact:

• Promote digital health: The scheme aims to encourage healthcare providers to adopt digital health practices, enhancing patient care and reducing administrative burdens.
• Enhance quality of care: By digitizing health records, the scheme ensures evidence-based quality care and seamless access to patient records.
• Boost digital health transactions: The scheme aims to increase digital health transactions, which will help in creating a robust digital health ecosystem.

National Health Authority (NHA):

• It is the apex body responsible for implementing AB PM-JAY.
• It has been entrusted with the role of designing strategy, building technological infrastructure and implementing of “National Digital Health Mission '' to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.
• It is the successor of the National Health Agency, which has been functioning as a registered society since 2018.

Under the Cabinet decision for full functional autonomy, the National Health Agency was reconstituted as the National Health Authority in January 2019.

Q1: What is Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan AarogyaYojana (AB-PMJAY)?

AB PM-JAY is the largest health assurance scheme in the world which aims at providing a health cover of ₹ 5,00,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to over 10.74 crores poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) that form bottom 40% of the Indian population. The households included is based on the deprivation and occupational criteria of the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011) for rural and urban areas respectively. PM-JAY.

Source: Why the Centre has extended the Digital Health Incentive Scheme