India’s health ministry will launch a redesigned version of the Aarogya Setu app, which was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, along with a broader package of digital health platforms, on Monday, according to a statement from the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
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Health, Family Welfare, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda will launch the initiatives at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on June 29, the statement said. Developed under the National Health Authority (NHA) and National Resource Center for Electronic Health Records Standards (NRCeS), it aims to expand access to healthcare services and enhance interoperability across India’s digital health infrastructure, according to the statement.
The revamped Aarogya Setu was described in the release as a personal health record (PHR) app, aiming to build on the “trust and reach” of the app built during the pandemic.
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The first version of the app was a digital contact tracing tool, and it quickly sparked controversy for being ineffective and potentially rife with cybersecurity risks.
The new version will allow users to create and manage Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA), access and share digital health records, and share health information based on consent, according to the ministry. The app will also offer AI-generated health insights, pull data from wearable devices, and allow outpatient registration and hospital payments through in-app scanning features, the statement said.
Additional functionalities included in the release include locating nearby hospitals, doctors, ambulance services and blood banks, and accessing services under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), including hospital searches and a digital insurance wallet. The application will also carry policy details of the scheme described only as ‘Ayushman CAPF’. The statement did not clarify the scope of this scheme but in the past, the NHA said personnel of eight CAPF forces and their families were entitled to cashless healthcare facilities.
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The ministry said that a separate and updated Ayushman app will serve beneficiaries of the PM-JAY scheme, allowing them to check eligibility, view treatment history, identify approved hospitals and file grievances. Beneficiaries will also be able to access these services through Ayushman Sarathi, a WhatsApp chatbot that aims to expand access through the conversational interface.
The National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) will standardize the exchange of claims information between hospitals and insurers, a measure the NHA said is aimed at reducing administrative delays.
A related tool, also introduced by the National Health Authority (NHA), will convert insurers’ health plans into a standard digital format known as FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource) packages, which aim to reduce errors in claims processing.
On the provider side, e-Sushrut Clinic is described in the release as a “plug and play” system intended to allow clinics to digitize records and link to the national digital health mission. The government will also launch a medicines registry that assigns standard codes to medicines, along with two data standards initiatives developed by NRCeS: the Common LOINC Codes for India, adapted from international laboratory data standards, and the Bharat Health Terminology Service, a common medical vocabulary aimed at helping digital systems interpret health information consistently.
These initiatives fall under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, the government’s broader program to build digital health infrastructure in the country, according to the ministry.
