National Health Authority to hold discussion on NDHM, invites stakeholders

New Delhi: The National Health Authority (NHA) will hold an open-house discussion from 3 pm to 5 pm on September 6 to deliberate on the development of different digital public goods under the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), one of the flagship projects of the government aligned with the prime minister's vision of digitally-enabled, affordable and accessible health coverage for all.

The event, to be held digitally, will facilitate a participative and transparent discussion between the NHA and the stakeholders, a statement issued by the former said.

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Earlier, the NHA published three consultation papers on various NDHM building blocks -- the Health Facility Registry (HFR), the Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and the Unified Health Interface (UHI) -- inviting comments, feedback and suggestions from the stakeholders.

Following the publication of each paper, a public webinar was also conducted to explain the specific policy and the technical and functional aspects on which consultation was sought. The links to the webinars are available on the NDHM website and on the NHA''s YouTube channel.

All the comments received on the three consultation papers have been published on the NDHM website for public viewing. The open house will enable a conversation on the key questions raised in the papers and the NHA requests all stakeholders to actively participate in the discussion, the statement said.

Since the pilot in August 2020, the NHA has conducted several live consultations with stakeholders and citizens alike to ensure that the NDHM is built in an inclusive and participatory manner, it added.

These consultations are part of the extensive research, development, public and stakeholder engagement in the run-up to the NDHM's national rollout. The open-house discussion will not only enable the participants to lend their voice to the development of the digital health ecosystem in the country but also facilitate conversations between the public and the government, according to the statement.

The NHA is the apex body of the government that is responsible for the design, rollout, implementation and management of the NDHM, which aims to develop the backbone to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country.

It will bridge the existing gap among different stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem through digital highways. The NDHM shall create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information, the statement said.

The NHA also implements the Centre's flagship scheme, Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).