Around 22% Of The Indian Population Have ABHA IDs: Survey

Pathways to Scale Adoption of Digital Health in India’, published by the global strategy and management consultancy firm Arthur D. Little (ADL) in partnership with NATHEALTH has identified digitalization as a key imperative for the healthcare industry in India. The firm says it has found a high level of acceptance for digital health services among consumers. 

While 74 per cent of the nearly 150 surveyed respondents were aware of digitalization of health services, 67 per cent had used a digital health solution recently, and 73 per cent recognized that digital health records are/ will be useful. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has also found significant traction among Indians. Around 22 per cent of the Indian population having ABHA ID and over 75 per cent of public health facilities already in Health Facility Registry.

The report identifies an urgent need for the private sector healthcare players to adopt digitalization. ADL survey of over 30 private healthcare providers revealed that even though private providers acknowledge the benefits offered by digitalization, adoption remains nascent. Hence while 93% of the respondents agreed that digitalization is beneficial but only 7 per cent of the providers have adopted digitalization across all operational use cases.

Despite the difference in digitalization levels, ABDM adoption remains limited across private providers of all segments and sizes, particularly due to a lack of awareness of benefits. Larger players are nervous about the implications of sharing internal digital systems and data, and data security. The smaller players are resistant as they view digitalization as an additional cost rather than an investment, while some fear increased regulatory scrutiny.

A strong business case exists for digitalization and ABDM integration across the private provider segments. ADL analysis of the benefits of digitalization reveal that by using cloud-based solutions, providers could improve profitability by 3-6 per cent to with a payback period of less than 18-36 months. 

ADL strongly believes that ABDM could emerge as a powerful catalyst of digital adoption for the full healthcare provider ecosystem. Providers using ABDM-compliant systems can capture more than 80 per cent of the benefits of digitalization with a 60 per cent reduction in Capex as compared to on-premises systems. Thus, there is no need to subsidize capital costs associated with digitalization.

Barnik Chitran Maitra, Managing Partner, Arthur D. Little India & South Asia says “The consumers of the Indian health ecosystem are ready for large-scale digitalization. Larger players are nervous about sharing internal digital systems and data, and data security. Smaller players are resistant viewing digitalization as an additional cost while some fear increased regulatory scrutiny. The push for deeper digital adoption and ABDM integration by private players shall require a concerted and collective effort on part of the government, payors, and the private providers.”