Nobody likes waiting in long lines, especially when you are sick and need help. The National Health Authority of India (NHA) has launched a QR code-based system to scan and share your medical records and get registered in OPDs since October 2022. Since then, over 5800 Public Healthcare Institutions have been using it and more than 3.85 crore people have benefited from it, according to the latest press report. Every day, more than 2400 hospitals and more than 1.80 lakh patients are actively using it. 

What is an ABHA-based scan and share?

Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) is a digital health ID that was introduced as a part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). It encompasses a 14-digit identification number, our demographic details like name, age, and address, and all of our medical records that are uploaded to it.

The various Public Health Record systems under ABDM let people create their accounts and save their documents, prescriptions, and lab reports. The healthcare facilities that are enrolled under this scheme have QR codes everywhere in their facilities that can be scanned by the patient for OPD registration. Thus, by scanning the QR code, they can share their medical records with healthcare providers. 

What is the current update of this program since its launch in October 2022?

Under this scheme, any hospital that is registered under the Health Facility Registry (HFR) of India and uses the ABDM complaint Health Management Information System, can generate a QR code. This QR code can be scanned by the patients for OPD registration. 

Since its launch in October 2022, both the NHA and State Government have deployed this program in over 5800 healthcare institutions. For such facilities, regular training and exercises are given at the level of the State government, CMOs, and facility managers through IEC, videos, posters, and banners. Additionally, patient awareness campaigns are also conducted to make the general public aware of this scheme. Financial incentives are given to the healthcare facilities that are implementing this scheme. 

Currently, Scan and Share Registration is actively used in more than 2400 hospitals and more than 1.80 lakh patients benefit from the program every day. Since its launch in October 2022, more than 3.87 crore patients have benefited from this program.

The purpose and goals of ABHA scan and share systems.

The main purpose of this Share and Scan initiative is to prevent long queues in hospitals. It can be used in any healthcare facility, including PHCs, U-CHCs, and DHs, for OPD registration.

This registration technique further opens the possibility of sharing the hospital health records, including the diagnostic reports so that they can be shared with other healthcare providers.

The Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS), which incentivizes this scheme, wants to further develop this idea. Another similar initiative called Scan and Pay is being piloted, where patients can scan through their mobile applications to pay for the diagnostic, lab, or registration billing instead of paying for each of them separately.

To further improve the affordability and accessibility of diagnostic technology to patients, the Government of India has taken steps to integrate Diagnostic software solutions and the Lab Management Information System (LMIS) into ABDM. This allows for sharing the diagnostic reports directly with the patients.  As of July 26, 2024, more than 219 partners are integrated with ABDM, out of which 15 are ABDM-integrated LMIS.

To ensure a seamless patient journey, once a patient registers and orders a diagnostic test through ABHA, the process becomes streamlined so that the patient’s report is directly captured, stored, and may be pushed to their Public Health Record applications. This digital delivery of lab reports makes it easy for patients who can access their reports remotely and don’t have to go in person to the hospital to collect them.