"Already e-Sanjeevani-like open-network teleconsultation services are running well pan India. However, most of the patients require physical examination and some key findings may be missed through online consultation and may end up in misdiagnosing and wrongly treating medical condition," New Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital told the National Health Authority (NHA), as part of its comments on the proposed Unified Health Interface (UHI). The prominent Delhi hospital's comments on the UHI, along with submissions from other stakeholders, were made public earlier this month by the NHA. UHI would form the second last layer of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), determining how third-party applications will interact with it. The NDHM is a multi-layered digital health infrastructure that looks to digitise sensitive health data for citizens, pushing for more teleconsultations, and the creation of longitudinal, electronic health records for all Indian citizens. Among hundreds of submissions by various health tech companies and industry bodies, the Safdarjung Hospital was the only hospital to submit comments on the UHI. On the interface, hospitals can participate through the Health Facility Registry to provide teleconsultations. What was said about the UHI? On Open Network NHA: It asked stakeholders about the benefits and risks anticipated in an open network approach to digital health services. The NHA has proposed an Open protocol-based UHI with standards that offer interoperability between various stakeholders. Safdarjung Hospital referred to the already existing open network teleconsultation platform E-Sanjeevani and noted that teleconsultation in some cases, could lead to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatments. On Stakeholders NHA: Any other…
