The National Health ID aims to reduce the risk of preventable medical errors and increase the quality of care

In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a national health ID for every Indian in a Niti Aayog proposal to create a centralized mechanism to uniquely identify every participating user in the National Health Stack. An article in The Indian Express has covered in detail about what all will be included in the health ID.

All health-related information of an individual will be linked to the National health ID said the report.

According to the National Health Authority (NHA), every patient who wishes to have their health records available digitally must start by creating a Health ID.

The Indian Express report further revealed that every health ID will be linked to a health data consent manager — such as National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) — which will be used to seek the patient’s consent and allow for seamless flow of health information from the Personal Health Records module. The ID will be created using a person’s basic details and mobile number or Aadhaar Number making it unique to the person.

Niti Aayog floated a consultation of a digital backbone for India’s health system namely National Health Stack in 2018. Under National Health Stack, Niti Aayog proposed a Digital Health ID to “greatly reduce the risk of preventable medical errors and significantly increase the quality of care, the report said.

The report further said that the proposal was then taken up by the Central government with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the NHA, and the Ministry of Electronics and IT preparing a strategy overview document for “Making India a Digital Health Nation Enabling Digital Healthcare for all”.

Various healthcare providers such as hospitals, laboratories, insurance companies, insurance companies, online pharmacies, and telemedicine firms will be expected to participate in the health ID system, the report revealed.

A similar approach was followed by the UK’s National Health Service as well in 2010 as per the report.