New Delhi: The National Health Authority (NHA) announced fund allocation to States and Union Territories for the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) based on their performance in recording data in the Health Facility Registry (HFR) and Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR). This performance-based fund allocation shall help in structured implementation of the ABDM at State/UT level with verified entries strengthening the key national registries being built under the scheme.
As per the earlier guidelines issued by NHA, Rs. 500 crores had been demarcated for setting up of ABDM offices at State/ UT level over a period of 5 years (FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26). Twenty percent of these funds, i.e., Rs. 100 crores were earmarked as incentive-based funds. Taking this thought further, NHA decided to extend the current fund allocation based on the performance of respective states and UTs in terms of number of entities (healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses etc. and health facilities like hospitals, clinics, health & wellness centres, diagnostic labs, pharmacies etc.) that the respective States/ UTs register and verify within a stipulated period.
Commenting on this, Dr. R. S. Sharma, CEO, NHA said – “The HPR and HFR are the key pillars of ABDM. With enthusiastic support from the States and UTs in registering more healthcare professionals and health facilities, we can take the benefits of digital health services to the masses. The respective bodies at States and UTs are also responsible for verification of the details entered during registration. Their support shall help build national-level registries of healthcare professionals and health facilities that can be single source of truth for individuals seeking health services.”
The population of Health Facility Registry (HFR) and Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) is crucial to achieve the intended objective of ABDM. Introduction of performance-based funding to States & UTs is an initiative in this direction. In accordance, NHA has defined the parameters for fund allocation as:
- 100 for each verified entries in HFR & HPR till 31st December 2022
- 50 for each verified entries in HFR & HPR between 1st January 2023 till 31st March 2023
- No funds will be allocated for entries verified in HFR & HPR after 31st March 2023
- States and UTs are at liberty to use these funds for deploying human resources full time or part time for ABDM
