Ravishankar M Sankeshwar

Ravishankar M Sankeshwar, Chief Information Officer / Administrator IT, KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital MRC, speaks about data confidentiality and tariff issues of Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Ayushman Bharat scheme is an innovative idea that the poorest of the poor people can think of getting quaternary care services, right from a kidney transplant to heart transplant which was earlier a challenge, said Ravishankar M Sankeshwar, Chief Information Officer / Administrator IT, KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital MRC.

“The service offered by the involvement of private sector hospitals towards Ayushman Bharat scheme is really an innovative idea is what I feel. Karnataka already had a similar scheme, but the Ayushman Bharat is like its upgrade version. The IT plays a crucial role in Ayushman Bharat, right from the initial registration of a patient to billing to settlement; the entire cycle to be paperless,” said Sankeshwar in the panel discussion on ‘Ayushman Bharat: Opportunities, Scope & Challenges’ Co-panellists were Dr Ajai Agarwal, Director, Health Policy & Quality Assurance, National Health Authority; Rajat Agarwal, Deputy Director, IT, Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB – PMJAY), National Health Authority; and Dr OP Yadava, CEO, National Heart Institute.

 

On the confidentiality of data issue, he said, “As far as Karnataka is concerned, we have built Suraksha Aarogya Kavach; all the government empanelment comes under that website and all the claims are taken care of. As far as security control is concerned, almost all measures have been taken, and three years down the line, the majority of the issues got resolved, right from catering all data of the patient, providing the services, and getting the settlements. The software is intact and we are not facing any major challenges using the software provided by the government.”

He also added that the private sector hospitals should be involved in fixing tariffs under the Ayushman Bharat scheme and he pointed out that costing is a major area that needs to be looked into. Sankeshwar expressed his views in the conclave held virtually on the 3D platform, Avtaar. Organised by Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd and co-organised by eHEALTH, the two-day conclave brought together the country’s top public health officials from the union and state governments, healthcare experts, and CEOs, CIOs and other decision-makers from the corporate hospitals to network and discuss the role of digital technologies in transforming India’s healthcare sector.

Ayushman Bharat is the government’s flagship national health protection scheme covering 10 crore-plus poor and vulnerable families, benefitting around 50 crore people and providing coverage up to Rs 5 a family a year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. The scheme subsumed centrally sponsored schemes the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS) and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).

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