(MENAFN- Live Mint)

New Delhi: The government is set to soon roll out a digital revamp of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) to improve delivery of medicines to its 4.7 million beneficiaries. The initiative aims to address recurring complaints of drug shortages and delays and will bring real-time tracking and accountability to ensure smooth delivery to one of India's largest public healthcare networks, according to two officials and documents reviewed by Mint.

At the heart of the upgrade being carried out by the health and family welfare ministry is the new eShushrut Pharmacy Module-a guidance to CGHS dispensary staff to ensure ease of using digital platforms while dispensing the medicines to beneficiaries. This is designed to digitize every step-from inventory and prescription verification to dispensing-to ensure timely, transparent and reliable access to medicines across CGHS dispensaries.

“The necessity for this upgrade has risen to ensure timely and efficient healthcare delivery to government employees, pensioners, and their dependents, in view of growing disease burden among the Indian population," said a government official familiar with the matter. The new system has robust security and operational features and uses OTP-based authentication.

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The official said the system has a user-friendly interface and includes alerts to prompt staff about missing medicines or incorrect information, ensuring the integrity of the data to ensure end-to-end digital accountability at the dispensary level.

“Drug dispensing to patients involves CGHS staff using the Beneficiary ID (Ben ID) to search, review the patient's prescription, and issue the specified drugs. By digitizing every step from stock acquisition to dispensing, this comprehensive overhaul is designed to eliminate manual errors and ensure that every beneficiary has reliable, faster access to their required medicines, marking a key step in modernizing the healthcare scheme," said a second official.

Dr Indu Bhushan, former chief executive officer of the National Health Authority, recalled he had chaired a CGHS reform committee that had recommended digitizing the health programme years ago. He said moving away from paper-based systems is critical to avert delays and document loss, and it will promote transparency, accessibility and predictability for users.

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The government recently revised rates for nearly 2,000 CGHS medical procedures to benefit hospitals and beneficiaries. The new rates depend on a hospital's quality and location. Accredited hospitals (NABH/NABL) get full rates, while non-accredited ones receive 15% less. Super-specialty hospitals get 15% more. The rates vary by the city tier, ensuring reimbursements align with local cost structures and quality standards.

Queries sent to the health ministry spokesperson on Sunday remained unanswered till press time.

Dr Indu Bhushan, founding (ex-) chief executive officer of the National Health Authority, lauded the digital push, recalling he had led a CGHS reform committee that had years ago recommended digitizing the programme.

Moving away from paper-based systems is critical to avert delays, document loss and fraud, and to bring transparency, accessibility, and predictability for users, Dr Bhushan said. Digitization also improves accountability and audit capability, and helps the system harmonize with other health schemes, he added.

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