To process health insurance claims, the government plans one stop portal for hospitals
Currently, hospitals have to file claims on different portals used by different private insurance providers. The new portal, called National Health Claims Exchange, will likely be used by more than 200 major hospitals across the country.
The National Health Authority (NHA) the apex body implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme – is developing a one stop portal that can be used by hospitals across the country to process claims from around 50 insurance providers.
Ministry sources claimed that this is part of a 100-day plan prepared by the Union Health Ministry in the event of the BJP government returning to power.
“It will not be mandatory for hospitals or insurance providers to use this portal. This was an industry demand and has been developed after consultation with hospitals, insurance providers, and insurance regulator IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India),” said a senior health official, adding that this is an ecosystem for the government’s approach. Will help in promoting. Creating portable digital health records.
The official said: “A single portal will bring down the cost of clerical manpower for hospitals which is currently required to raise claims and upload data to multiple portals to different insurance providers. When it comes to patients, their claim processing time is likely to be reduced.
Although the portal is not meant for government monitoring, the official said it will provide people with information about claim settlement ratio (ratio of total claims settled by the company) and turnaround time (time taken by the company to settle claims). , Testing of the portal is already underway and is likely to be launched within two to three months.
Ministry sources said this is one of the three key areas on which the Union Health Ministry will work as part of its 100-day plan.
The second major target is the rollout of the government’s vaccine management platform, Evin. This will be a portal on the lines of Co-WIN which was used for the Covid-19 vaccination drive. eVIN will enroll children at birth, record all their Vaccinations, and provide them with vaccination certificates online. With the digital health account ABHA as the backbone, the system will also be linked to Anganwadis and schools so that the health parameters of children from birth are recorded on a single platform. The government is planning to implement it by August or September if returns to power.
The third goal is to deploy BHISM Cubes – a portable medical center and operation theater to be used for disasters and health emergencies – in all All India Institutes of Medical Sciences and other major central government hospitals like PGI-Chandigarh and JIPMER-Puducherry. , “These will be deployed in major hospitals across the country, which already have trained manpower, so that in case of an emergency, they can be shifted to the nearest Bhishma Cube,” the official said.
