A pilot project for digitising health records was conducted in Uttarakhand between December 8 to December 16, MediaNama has learned. The project took place in the city of Khatima and saw the enrollment of 1,000 citizens. The project was conducted along similar lines to the one carried out in Bihar in September, whereby electronic health records and Unique Health IDs were issued to 10,000 people after offering them free medical tests. Both projects were undertaken by Pune-based eHealthSystem. The tech startup has submitted a preliminary report containing observations from the project to the Bihar government, according to Operations Manager Swapnil Chitnis. The Uttarakhand pilot marks the latest in a growing list of state-level health digitisation projects, such as ones in Odisha, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu. The launch of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) last year spurred the push for health digitisation, but it has also led to concerns about insurance coverage, coercion, privacy violations, and more. How did the Uttarakhand project take place? Under the project, free testing of 36 to 51 health parameters such as blood sugar, body mass index, etc. was offered to those who signed up. The results of their medical tests were sent to them in a digitised format on their mobile numbers, Chitnis said. Passwords were issued for the patients to log into the eHealthSystem app and view their records. Those without a smartphone were issued a smartwatch so that medical personnel can access the patients' health data during consults. The test results are stored on the state…
