Govt to combine CGHS with Ayushman Bharat

The National Health Authority (NHA) is in the process of integrating the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), a government official said.

This is aimed at creating digital health identification of CGHS beneficiaries and storing their digital health records, thus ensuring quick treatment to the needy, the official said requesting anonymity.

So far, around 100 million health records have been linked to ABDM.

CGHS was started in 1954 with the aim of providing comprehensive healthcare to central government employees and pensioners and their dependent family members. The scheme currently covers more than 4.1 million beneficiaries in 75 cities.

“We are planning multiple new interventions in CGHS. We are in the process of integrating CGHS with Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission. Under this process, beneficiaries’ CGHS number will be mapped with ABHA number and digital linking of all health will be recorded. Here, the process will be easier because beneficiaries are less in number and they are literate to understand the process,” the official said.

Queries sent to spokespeople in the health ministry and NHA remained unanswered.

Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) is a 14-digit number that allows citizens to access and manage their medical records digitally. It creates comprehensive medical history across healthcare providers with citizens sharing relevant health records with ABDM-registered healthcare providers digitally.

In an official communication earlier this month, the health ministry said, “CGHS has found it imperative to adopt new technology and innovations in the delivery of quality healthcare. In this regard, CGHS has already completed the process of onboarding on the ABDM platform.”

“In the near future, a beneficiary having his/her beneficiary ID linked with Aadhar-based ABHA number can avail all the facilities through the CGHS wellness centres as well,” it said.

The NHA, the implementing agency of ABDM, had in July 2022 announced expansion of its digital health ecosystem by integrating digital health applications. In 2021, the health ministry had shifted the CGHS on NHA’s IT platform to deliver healthcare services to eligible beneficiaries seamlessly.