Catalyst Management Services (CMS) Partners with Piramal Foundation to Advance the Ayushman Digital Bharat Mission

In a significant move to bolster the Ayushman Digital Bharat Mission (ABDM), Catalyst Management Services (CMS) and Piramal Foundation have released a comprehensive video knowledge asset in the form of a Conversations’ Cafe Vlog on the Ayushman Digital Bharat Mission to enhance awareness and promote stakeholder engagement. Digital Bharat Collaborative (DBC), a part of the Piramal Foundation, has been working across multiple states with the private and public health systems to accelerate the creation of a national digital health ecosystem in India. The initiative aims to address the critical challenges of accessibility, affordability, and safe healthcare delivery by leveraging digital solutions.

The Ayushman Digital Bharat Mission is a transformative initiative that envisions creating an integrated digital health ecosystem to empower citizens with access to their electronic health records (EHRs). This initiative shifts away from the traditional practice of maintaining physical health documents and allows patients to have secure, electronic access to their medical histories, thereby enhancing patient-centric care and service delivery.

DBC’s work is aligned with the ABDM’s vision and framework, which revolves around critical components such as registries, a unified health interface, and a national health claims exchange.

During the event, Priyamvada Tiwari, Associate Director, Platform & Policy, Catalyst Management Services commented, “The learnings from the initiative led by the Piramal Foundation will serve as a critical resource for understanding the nuances of digital health implementation, exploring use cases, and navigating the multi-stakeholder ecosystem that ABDM represents. The knowledge asset aims to guide policymakers, healthcare providers, and development partners in effectively contributing to the ABDM framework.”

Piramal Foundation's efforts in ABDM are focused primarily in Bihar as a digital partner to the state Health Department. Additionally, various interventions of ABDM are underway in Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Chhattisgarh as well. In Bihar, state and district teams, along with Gandhi Fellows, work closely with health staff to help achieve outcomes such as below:

"Since the inception of our efforts, our focus has been on supporting the digitization of healthcare across India. We are actively working with state mission offices in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Chhattisgarh to further these efforts, particularly in onboarding private healthcare facilities to the digital ecosystem. Creating a digitally integrated health ecosystem with a knowledge partner like CMS will support this initiative to reach the roots of India," said Anvesh T, Program Director - Digital Bharat Collaborative (a part of Piramal Foundation).

As India continues to progress towards a fully integrated digital health system, initiatives like ABDM are pivotal in unlocking the value of digital health for citizens. The development of use cases around unified health interfaces and national health claims exchanges will further enhance service delivery, transparency, and cost-effectiveness in healthcare.

Watch the video discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4en3qPmAfmI

Catch the audio version of this conversation on multiple streaming platforms.