NEW DELHI: All your health records will soon be available to you and the doctor you consult at the tap of your mobile phone. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has developed an app which will allow users to store their detailed health profile, past prescriptions, lab records and diagnoses at one platform that they can share with medical professionals when they need.
The app will preclude the need to carry medical records when patients visit their doctors. The app, ‘My Health Record,’ developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing under the Ministry for Information Technology, is ready and is set to be launched in a couple of months after security checks are complete.
The app, equipped with multi-factor authentication, is part of a mega National Digital Health Blueprint that the Centre has prepared after wide consultations. “This move is aimed at empowering people with a one-stop forum to store all the details of their health which they can share with professionals even if they are not carrying physical files around,” said an official in the health ministry.
The app will allow people to create their own profiles. It will be password protected and users can keep updating it by uploading all the physical or digital health records. When patients want doctors to access your records, they can generate a one-time password with the medical professional for a chosen number of hours.
“The app has been designed in such a way that there would be different categories of records and the users can choose which part of their profile they want the doctors to see,” another official explained. For instance, if a woman goes to a gynaecologist and wants the doctor to see only the related documents, she can allow the medico to access only the relevant records.
Public health experts said the app would be useful if best practices are adhered to considering security and privacy of data.
“However, since only a small population has access to smart phones and mobile internet, there is a potential for furthering digital inequities unless addressed proactively, with growing computational technologies such as natural language processing and voice-enabled electronic health record capabilities,” said Oommen John of the New Delhi-based George Institute of Global Institute. He said once the app is rolled out, it could be considered to create electronic personal health records for PMJAY beneficiaries.
Making documentation easy
The health app, ‘My Health Record,’ was developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing.
The app will allow people to create their own profiles. It will come with password.
One-time password will ensure that health data is not leaked.