NHA issues hardware guidelines for healthcare to facilitate effective implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

The National Health Authority (NHA) issued hardware guidelines across States and Union Territories for healthcare institutions like hospitals, clinics, and health and wellness centers to promote digitization in hospitals. The guidelines offer States and UTs a fundamental framework for the design, evaluation, and purchase of IT hardware (including IT requirements of various hardware equipment), in order to run Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission-compliant applications (ABDM).

The NHA’s CEO, Dr. R. S. Sharma, stated the following when discussing the recommendations: “The first step towards ABDM implementation is digitization of hospitals. The need for certain recommendations that provide them with an overview of the IT infrastructure requirements based on the size of the health facility was raised by a number of States and UTs. The NHA hardware recommendations will aid states and UTs in determining their needs and making ABDM adoption easier in their healthcare institutions.

By linking the digital health solutions used by hospitals and other healthcare facilities across the nation, ABDM will streamline procedures and improve overall ease of life. Other services like teleconsultation, paperless health records, QR code-based OPD registrations, etc. will also be made possible by the digital ecosystem. It will be impossible for patients’ old medical records to disappear and they will always have access to them thanks to the digitalization of health records. The establishment and interchange of digital health records throughout the ecosystem will be greatly aided by the State/UT level adoption of Hospital Information Management Systems and the provision of the requisite IT infrastructure.

You can find the specs for the IT hardware needed to enable this ecosystem at https://abdm.gov.in:8081/uploads/Hardware Guidelines ABDM e162cf7a7b.pdf. The document will assist States and UTs in determining the necessary hardware when planning and acquiring IT equipment for healthcare facilities of all sizes. The NHA’s issued guidelines are advisory and illustrative in nature. These rules are flexible and can be changed by States/UTs, medical facilities, and specific local needs and conditions.