New Delhi: The National Health Authority (NHA) under his Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is enabling digital interventions to bring efficiency to the delivery of healthcare services. One such intervention is the Scan and Share service that enables instant records for patients in outpatient department (OPD) blocks of participating hospitals.
Utilization of the service has exceeded 10 lakh patient records within six months of its launch. It is remarkable to see that the service recorded five lakh patient records in the past month alone (23 February 2023). The impact and acceptance of the Scan and Share service is evident by the sharp increase in number.
Speaking about the Scan and Share service, the NHA CEO said: “ABDM aims to build a healthcare delivery ecosystem using digital solutions. With the Scan and Share feature, hospitals offer digital record services to their patients through the direct sharing of their ABHA profile. This is helping patients to get instant registration tokens without having to queue and without entering many details. Currently, the average per day is about 25,000 OPD tokens. We intend to cross one lakh tokens per day soon. Additionally, we plan to expand the feature for other interactions between patients and healthcare providers.”
The Scan and Share service works with a simple modality of direct exchange of information based on QR codes. Participating hospitals display their unique QR codes at their patient registration counters. Patients use their smartphones to scan the QR codes using the mobile app supported by the service (currently available on the ABHA app, Aarogya Setu, Driefcase, Paytm, Bajaj Health and Ekacare). The patient then creates his ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) or sign in to your existing ABHA account. After logging in, the patient can directly share their ABHA profile with the hospital to complete their registration without having to physically fill out the form. This paperless registration results in instant token generation, helping the patient to skip the long line simply by using their ABHA.
This service was launched by the NHA on 6 October 2022 at Lady Hardinge Medical College Hospital (LHMC) and Smt Sucheta Kriplani Hospital (SSKH) in New Delhi. Since then, more than 443 hospitals in 147 districts have adopted the service and are helping patients save the time they spend in OPD registration lines every day. AIIMS: Raipur, NDMC Charak Palika Hospital: New Delhi, LHMC & SSKH: New Delhi, Sir CV Raman General Hospital: Bengaluru & LBRN Joint Hospital, Kanpur Road: Lucknow is helping more than 25,000 patients daily using Scan and ABHA-based sharing.
To further promote the adoption of the Scan and Share service by hospitals and Digital Solutions Companies (DSCs) that offer their technology to healthcare facilities, ABDM has also included Scan and Share transactions under the Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS). Healthcare centers offering ABHA-based Scan and Share service also have an opportunity to earn incentives of up to Rs 4 crore under DHIS based on the number of ABHA-based digital health transactions they achieve.
