Tackling Resistance to Digital Healthcare with ABHA

What is ABHA?
 

ABHA is a digital repository that stores a patient's medical records. On registering, you are provided a 14-digit unique identification number. You can create an ABHA ID using your Aadhaar or driver’s licence.

ABHA is a part of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. This scheme provides medical insurance to the underprivileged population of the country. The beneficiaries of the scheme can make cashless transactions using ABHA.
 

Challenges of digital transformation in healthcare
 

Digitisation of healthcare offers several benefits, like better treatment, reduced medical errors, increased access to quality service, etc. However, there is a strong resistance to change, which poses a number of challenges.

Here are the main obstacles to the successful digitisation of healthcare:

• Privacy and security: A patient’s medical record is extremely sensitive information. With the adoption of digital tools, Indian citizens have a growing concern about the safety and privacy of their documents.
• Rigidity: The healthcare industry has a conservative attitude toward new technologies. With medical professionals spanning various generations, not all of them easily adapt to digital innovations. They stick to old practices.
• Skill gap: For the digital transformation to be a success the medical staff have to learn to use different digital tools smoothly. Healthcare providers have to update their skill sets and familiarise themselves with modern solutions.
• Outdated software: Many hospitals still use outdated software, which can be difficult to integrate with modern solutions. This creates many issues, inhibiting the adoption of digital tools in healthcare.
   

How does ABHA help tackle resistance against digital transformation?
 

The Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) is an initiative towards making healthcare accessible to all. ABHA helps tackle resistance to the digitisation of healthcare in the following ways:

• Encrypted data: With ABHA, you don’t have to worry about the safety of your documents. They are all stored in an encrypted manner. Only you can access your data. You can share it with any healthcare provider. However, the entire process is consensual. You have the privilege of denying access at any time.
• Unified data and insights: ABHA provides a unified view of a patient’s medical history to their healthcare provider. This simplifies the task for doctors. ABHA also generates data insights, which help medical professionals to predict the outcome of a treatment. These solutions have made treatment easier for doctors, reducing medical errors.
• Easy to use: The ABHA platform is very easy to operate. Medial staff can easily navigate around the platform. It offers the address advantage of beneficiary tracking, which is a great tool for tracking corruption. It has also reduced piles of paperwork.
• Seamless data sharing and tracking: The ABHA interface is easily supported on all software. Patients can simply scan a QR code to share their medical records with the healthcare system. The beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana can make cashless transactions with ABHA.

But that’s not all. The ABHA platform uses a simple and user-friendly interface. Everyone can benefit from its features. Apart from the points mentioned above, here are a few more features of ABHA that help in tackling resistance to change:

• Paperless: With ABHA, you don’t have to worry about carrying your medical records to the doctor’s clinic every time you visit. You can easily share the documents with the doctor. This has made doctor visits hassle-free.
• Accountability: ABHA has a track of all your medical records. This reduces the chances of getting corrupted by healthcare institutes, a recurring problem faced by many people. It enhances transparency among clinicians.
• Access to better treatment: A major part of India doesn’t have access to proper healthcare. For instance, Priya Gupta, a young woman from a rural village, faced the challenge of finding proper healthcare in time due to poor infrastructure. ABHA helped in mitigating this issue. Every ABHA ID holder can book an appointment with the empanelled doctors on the platform.
   

How to implement digital transformation in healthcare

Even though digital solutions have emerged as a powerful tool in healthcare, their implementation faces strong resistance. Here are a few things to keep in mind to make the transition easier:

• Try and understand the reason behind the resistance. With a thorough assessment, try to identify the concerns of people. This information will help you take the necessary steps to increase adoption.
• Engage healthcare professionals from the planning stage. Their insights can help in making valuable changes.
• Spread awareness about the perks of the change. Until people know how the digital transformation will benefit them, they will remain hesitant about the change.
• Provide proper training to medical staff, helping them gain the knowledge and skills to operate digital tools. Create training programmes for various clinician roles at different digital literacy levels.
• Make the transition easier by offering guides or manuals to the healthcare staff. Also, provide support in case of any discrepancies in its use.
   

Conclusion

Resistance to change is common in every industry, but it is especially pronounced in the healthcare sector. Medical professionals and patients are rigid about sticking to what has been working for so many years.

However, to improve the care provided and to make healthcare accessible to all, a digital transformation is necessary. ABHA has been designed to enhance the quality of treatment offered to people. The platform helps overcome several challenges that arise during this transformation.

Create your ABHA account today to ensure you benefit from the features it offers.

FAQs
 

1. Where can I create an ABHA account?
 

You can create your ABHA account on its official website. You can also create an ABHA ID offline by visiting the nearest health facility listed on the official website.
 

2. How much health insurance are the beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat Yojana offered?
 

The Ayushman Bharat Yojana offers health insurance of up to INR 5 lakh for the underprivileged population of India.
 

3. Can any healthcare professionals access my health records without consent?
 

No, healthcare professionals or any other individual cannot access your health records without your consent. Only you can share this data with someone.