Bengaluru: Eka Care becomes the first private healthcare platform to facilitate the creation of Health ID under Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission (ABDM). After PM Modi’s Announcement on 27th September 2021, there were several companies lined up to facilitate creation of health IDs.
ABDM’s initiative has opened up a completely new chapter in the healthcare industry. Under this scheme, a unique Digital Health ID will be provided to the people, which will link with all the health records of the individual.
“This is the beginning of a new healthcare infrastructure in India. After revolutionizing the finance sector with UPI, the government has taken up a massive step in the healthcare industry. We are super delighted to facilitate the creation of health ID and storing of health records on our platform. To support this initiative, we are also offering free storage up to 10GB to each individual, to store their health records,” said Mr. Vikalp Sahni, CEO and Co-founder, Eka Care.
The creation of Health IDs will standardize the process of identifying an individual across healthcare providers. The aim is to ensure that the medical records which get created are issued to the right individual or get accessed by health information users through the individual’s appropriate consent.
In order to issue a Health ID to an individual, we will require basic demography and contact details and pass it on to the ABDM system. The ID will be used for uniquely identifying persons, authenticating them and maintaining their own and family’s health records (only with the informed consent of the individual) across multiple systems and stakeholders.
Storing health records as a habit is missing in our country. Availability of health records at tertiary-care can reduce the overall cost of the treatment and improve health outcomes. This is the only way to monitor the cases of chronic patients. With over 270 mn chronic patients in the country, Eka Care’s storage of health records can be a game-changer. Teleconsultations will also take a big lead with this initiative as doctors would be able to access records remotely while consulting with patients.
Eka.Care, became the first company to integrate with the CoWIN portal in June this year, allowing booking of vaccination slots. The Eka.Care platform integration with CoWIN offers a bouquet of services: seamless slot booking, pre and post-vaccination tele-consultation, vaccination certificate downloading within minutes.
The Eka Care app is available in 12 different languages and is being used by more than 1.5 million consumers across 1500 districts in India. Through the app, patients can store their health records, book their doctor appointments, book CoWIN vaccination appointments and download vaccination certificates. The app also facilitates users to talk to a doctor 24X7.
The Eka Care team is working on building a PHR app as well as per the ABDM guidelines to facilitate consent-based sharing of records with healthcare providers.
Eka Care commenced its operations in December 2020 with a vision to build a connected healthcare ecosystem for India. The company was founded by Vikalp Sahni, Deepak Tuli, and Abhishek Baggerhotta. Professionals from leading tech companies such as Flipkart, Masimo, Philips, Goibibo have joined the duo in this mission, to bring better health outcomes.
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