TIMELINE THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
OF HEALTHCARE IN INDIA India’s healthcare system has been undergoing a digital transformation, culminating in the rollout of digital health IDs which the government hopes will be adopted by most of the population. We take a look at the country’s journey to digitalise healthcare
2015
2017
2020
Digital India campaign
Digital health IDs
The Indian government launches the Digital India campaign, with the aim of transforming the country’s economy. This includes ensuring all public services such as healthcare are available to citizens electronically. Upgrades to wifi availability and introducing 5G are part of the plans to enable this.
The idea of a digital health ID is proposed, part of a digital healthcare system that integrates information for citizens and stakeholders across private and public healthcare providers. It is expected that hospitals, online pharmacies, telemedicine firms, laboratories and insurance companies will take part in the new system.
COVID-19 & the acceleration of digital healthcare
14
December 2021
COVID-19 results in a 500% increase in the use of virtual consultations between March and May 2020 alone. However the pandemic also highlights a digital divide: to book vaccines people must access the web portal CoWin, and upload their identity documents via a smartphone or computer with a strong internet connection available to citizens in metropolitan areas, but less so across India’s vast rural regions.
