34 States/UTs now onboard with ABDM; MoS Health informs about steps taken by Health Ministry

New Delhi: The Union Minister of State for Health Shri Prataprao Jadhav last week apprised the Lok Sabha that the government has taken various steps to ensure that the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) reach every citizen in the country.

In a written statement, MoS Health mentioned that the digital health ecosystem created by ABDM supports seamless continuity of care across primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare. ABDM is a central sector scheme with an outlay of Rs 1600 crore for five years, from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025- 26. Up to July 19, 2024, Rs 71.17 crore has been released to all States/UTs.

The Minister was addressing questions raised by a group of 25 parliament members who sought to know the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to expand the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) across the country including Rajasthan, Karnataka and Jharkhand, whether the Government has proposed any strategy to onboard the States and if so, the details of the technical/financial support being provided to the States presently.

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They also questioned whether the Government is conducting any awareness programme to make people aware of the benefits of ABDM; the total number of treatments taken by senior citizens above the age of 70 years under Ayushman Bharat along with the amount of expenditure incurred, State-wise; and the total number of beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Pali & Jodhpur district of Rajasthan during the last three year?

In response to these queries, the Union Health Minister said, "The government has taken various steps to ensure that the benefits of the Mission reach every citizen. The digital health ecosystem created by ABDM supports seamless continuity of care across primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare. ABDM is a central sector scheme with an outlay of Rs 1600 crore for five years, from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025- 26. Up to July 19, 2024, Rs 71.17 crore has been released to all States/UTs."

"Various policy frameworks such as the Health Data Management Policy, Sandbox Guidelines, and Health Information Provider Guidelines have been prepared and issued to ensure the smooth implementation of ABDM. Initiatives like Scan and Share, Microsites, and Digital Health Incentive Schemes have been launched to increase ABDM adoption across States/UTs," he further added.

The Minister further explained that the government is integrating state-specific health programs like PCTS and IHMIS (HMIS) across government facilities in Rajasthan. In Karnataka, programs like Arogyasri and RBSK are being integrated with ABDM. In Jharkhand, ABDM-enabled HMIS is in place in all government health facilities.

As of July 19, out of 36 States/UTs, 34 have adopted ABDM, and 31 have successfully onboarded PMU and necessary support is being provided to the state for onboarding PMU in ABDM. Both public and private sector IT solutions in health have been integrated through various registries under ABDM to aid the creation of longitudinal EHRs across the country. As of July 19, 2024, 217 entities (51 public and 166 private) have successfully integrated with the ABDM ecosystem. Over 800 entities (government and private) are currently integrating with ABDM, informed the Minister.

Addressing the queries about the technical and financial support being provided to the States, the Minister shared data about the allocated funds to three states in the country.

Further, the Minister stated the details of the total number of treatments taken by Senior citizens above the age of 70 years under Ayushman Bharat along with the amount of cost state-wise. In the data, Kerala emerged as the top state to witness as many as 1021024 hospital admissions provided to senior citizens aged 70 years and above followed by Karnataka (773011) and Andhra Pradesh (518145). The least hospital admission took place in Lakshadweep (176).

The Total number of beneficiary families covered under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) is 2,49,689 and 1,38,340 in Jodhpur (including Jodhpur Gramin) and Pali respectively. Under AB PM-JAY, all beneficiaries have been eligible for cashless healthcare services since the launch of the scheme in their respective State/UT.