Digital Health Incentive Scheme

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, technology stands as a beacon of innovation, offering solutions that enhance patient care, streamline processes, and empower individuals to take control of their well-being. Among these advancements, the Digital Health Incentive Scheme emerges as a transformative initiative, bridging the gap between traditional healthcare practices and cutting-edge digital solutions.

The Concept

The Digital Health Incentive Scheme is a pioneering approach aimed at incentivising individuals to adopt digital health tools and platforms for managing their health and wellness. At its core, the scheme encourages proactive engagement with technology-driven solutions, such as mobile health apps, wearable devices, telemedicine services, and health monitoring systems.

Objectives

Promoting Preventive Care:

By encouraging individuals to monitor their health metrics regularly, the scheme emphasises preventive care, empowering people to detect potential health issues early and take proactive measures to address them.

Enhancing Patient Engagement:

Digital health tools facilitate greater engagement between patients and healthcare providers, fostering communication, collaboration, and shared decision-making in managing health outcomes.

Improving Health Outcomes:

Through real-time monitoring and data-driven insights, digital health solutions enable personalised interventions and treatment plans, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes and quality of life.

Reducing Healthcare Costs:

By promoting preventive care and early intervention, the scheme aims to mitigate healthcare costs associated with chronic conditions, hospitalisations, and emergency room visits, resulting in long-term savings for individuals and healthcare systems.

Key Components

• Incentive Structure: The scheme offers various incentives, such as discounts on health insurance premiums, cash rewards, vouchers for wellness products/services, or access to exclusive healthcare benefits, to individuals who actively engage with digital health platforms and achieve predefined health goals.

• Health Data Integration: To ensure seamless data exchange and interoperability, the scheme encourages the integration of digital health tools with electronic health records (EHR) systems, enabling healthcare providers to access comprehensive patient data for informed decision-making.

• Educational Initiatives: Alongside incentives, the scheme includes educational initiatives to raise awareness about the benefits of digital health technologies, address concerns regarding data privacy and security, and provide guidance on selecting reliable and effective digital health solutions.

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Continuous monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are put in place to assess the impact of the scheme on health outcomes, healthcare utilisation patterns, and overall population health, allowing for adjustments and refinements as needed.

• Beneficiaries: Several government and commercial institutions, including KGMU, Lucknow, KIMS Hubli, Bengaluru, AIIMS Raipur, Bhopal, and Lok Bandhu Raj Narayan Combined Hospital, Lucknow, are among the recipients of the incentives.

• Registration:

– Currently, 1,205 healthcare facilities—including 638 commercial and 567 governmental hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic labs—have registered for this program. Moreover, 22 of the 25 registered digital solution companies are private enterprises.

– Until June 2023, the DHIS scheme gave incentives of ₹4.84 crore to seven health IT startups and over 120 healthcare facilities.

Implementation Challenges and Considerations

While the Digital Health Incentive Scheme holds immense promise, its successful implementation requires addressing several challenges and considerations:

• Digital Divide: Ensuring equitable access to digital health tools and resources is crucial to prevent exacerbating existing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes.

• Privacy and Security: Safeguarding the privacy and security of health data is paramount to maintaining trust and confidence in digital health solutions among individuals and healthcare stakeholders.

• Regulatory Compliance: Compliance with regulatory frameworks, such as data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) and standards for health information exchange, is essential to mitigate legal and ethical risks associated with digital health initiatives.

• Behavioural Change: Encouraging sustained engagement with digital health technologies requires addressing barriers to behaviour change, including user interface design, health literacy, and cultural preferences.

Eligibility

The program is available to healthcare facilities that list 10 or more beds in the Health Facility Registry (HFR). An incentive would be available for any ABHA-linked health record created in the medical facility (OPD/IPD services). 

Hospitals must perform 50 transactions per bed per month minimum to be eligible for the incentive. Transactions in the laboratory or diagnostics must total more than INR 500 per month to be eligible for this incentive scheme. 

Note: Click on this link to verify your eligibility: https://abdm.gov.in/DHIS.

Transactions That Qualify Under The Digital Health Incentive Scheme

“Transaction” refers to establishing any teleconsultation, lab report, prescription, or other health record linked to an ABHA/ABHA address by a medical facility or a health locker. 

Be aware that if you produce any medical records created during a specific care setting, the authorities will consolidate them into a single transaction about an ABHA address. These medical records may include prescriptions for over-the-counter medications, diagnostic results, or even several consultations during a single hospital visit.

Type of Entity	Base Level Criteria	Incentives
Hospitals/Clinics/Nursing homes	100 transactions per month	₹20 per additional transaction above the base level.
Diagnostic Facilities/Labs	For hospitals/labs/clinics/nursing homes using their software	₹5 per transaction per month
Digital Solution Companies	For health locker/teleconsultation transactions	500 transactions per month, ₹5 per additional transaction above the base level.
Insurance Provider	For every insurance claim transaction linked with the ABHA address filled by the hospital through the Health Claim Exchange	₹500 per claim or 10% of the claim amount, whichever is lower.

As of right now, ABDM has provided instructions on how to submit a claim for incentives through DHIS. Here are the steps to claim.

• Create a Health Facility Registry (HFR) account for your facility.
• Use software that supports ABDM, or download the ABHA mobile app.
• Use your HFR ID to register for DHIS. 
• To claim the incentive, log in to your HFR profile.

Note: Kindly visit https://abdm.gov.in/DHIS/incentive-calculator to understand the reward you can earn under the DHIS.

Conclusion

The Digital Health Incentive Scheme represents a bold step towards harnessing the potential of technology to revolutionise healthcare delivery and empower individuals to lead healthier lives. By incentivising the adoption of digital health tools and fostering a culture of proactive health management, the scheme lays the foundation for a more patient-centred, efficient, and sustainable healthcare ecosystem. As stakeholders collaborate to overcome implementation challenges and leverage the full benefits of digital innovation, the future of healthcare holds promise for improved outcomes and enhanced well-being for all.