‘United Health Interface will do to service delivery what UPI did to payments’

• UHI is a network that can enable interoperability in health services.
• Through UHI enabled applications, patients can discover, book, conduct and pay for services via an application of their choice.
  
• e-RUPI is a new fintech initiative for instant payment to healthcare service providers in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

Just like UPI revolutionized payment transactions in India, Unified Health Interface or UHI will revolutionize digital health service delivery, said Dr R S Sharma, CEO, National Health Authority, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at IFTA 2022 held in Mumbai.

A foundational layer of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) stack, UHI is a network of open protocols that can enable interoperability in health services. Through UHI enabled applications, patients can discover, book, conduct and pay for services offered by a variety of participating providers via an app of their choice.

“UHI facilitates the ease of doing business for health care service providers by granting them access to a large number of users, through the medium of a common platform. This paradigm shift in healthcare delivery also gives rise to a sea of opportunities for the emerging HealthTech ecosystem” said Dr Sharma.

Some of the services that will be included in UHI are teleconsultation, lab booking and ambulance services.

The healthcare system is also working on enabling payments via e-RUPI, as part of a fintech initiative for instant payment to healthcare service providers - under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, a government funded health insurance scheme.

e-RUPI is a person and purpose specific digital instrument based on the architecture of UPI. It’s a one-time, cashless, contactless prepaid digital voucher which can be availed through an SMS or QR Code. It can be redeemed without a card, digital payments app, or internet banking access.

“e-RUPI will have myriad use cases: to start with, health, nutrition, education and agriculture are just a few areas that are going to benefit from it. A number of states have already started using e-RUPI for various benefit delivery programmes in their states,” Dr Sharma added.

It was launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in August 2021.

Dr Sharma believes that it is time that we innovate new products in the fintech industry which could be combined with healthtech for an affordable, scalable and accessible digital healthcare ecosystem.

IFTA 2022 is a fintech event hosted by India FinTech Forum, an advocacy group. More than 2,750 fintech companies and over 30,000 individuals are members of this forum.

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