Digital Wave in Healthcare With Online Records; 1 Lakh People Scanning QR Codes For OPD Tokens Daily

After UPI payments taking over, India is now beginning to see the signs of a digital wave emerging in the health sector, shows government data. Almost every day, one lakh patients scan QR codes to register themselves at the Out-Patient Department (OPD) at hospitals and clinics across India.

Also, it’s not the metropolitan areas where the trend has gained momentum. In fact, Uttar Pradesh leads the trend followed by Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi. In UP, which has registered over 86 lakh QR code-based registrations, Kanpur Nagar and Prayagraj have registered maximum traction.

The patients are not only scanning but, in turn, are creating or using their digital health records. It means they will have access to digital prescriptions, pharmacy records, diagnostic reports and multiple health records in one place – on the mobile phone, eliminating the need to carry paper-based prescriptions or reports.

“The government data shows that on an average, daily, more than 1 lakh citizens are using this feature. It shows around four times rise in the number of monthly tokens generated between April 2023 and April 2024,” Himanshu Burad, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Additional CEO at National Health Authority (NHA) told News18.

The NHA is the apex body responsible for the implementation of ABDM.

The top performing hospitals for April, where the scan and share feature was used most widely, are All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi followed by AIIMS, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Government General Hospital, Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), District Combined Hospital in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Uttar Pradesh) and Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

Highest Registrations, Feature Usage to be Expanded Soon

The feature, officially known as ‘scan and share’, was introduced under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in October 2022. It allows patients to scan the QR code placed at the OPD registration counter and share their ABHA profile for instant registration.

ABHA is the full form is the Ayushman Bharat Health Account. The ABHA card contains a unique 14-digit identification number called ABHA ID. The entire medical history, consultation details, and prescriptions are included in the ABHA ID.

This service is currently active in more than 4,694 health facilities across 529 districts in 35 States and Union Territories of India.

“On 14th May, the highest ever, more than 1.60 tokens were created,” Burad said while adding that this trend shows that Indians are adopting the comfort of digital health and gradually creating their digital health records. On an average, one lakh patients are now using this facility every day,” Burad said.

“The Scan and Share service offered at OPD counters is a tech-based solution that helps nearly a lakh patients save time otherwise spent waiting in hospital queues each day. To ease the burdens faced by patients during their healthcare visits, we aim to expand this service to include pharmacy counters and laboratories,” he added.

He explained that the government’s goal is to utilise technology to support elderly patients, expectant mothers, and other citizens when they seek healthcare services. “Additionally, ABHA-based registrations will give patients digital access to their OPD digital prescriptions, pharmacy IPD records and diagnostic reports.”

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