New Delhi: Highlighting the critical role of innovations in achieving the goal of Universal Health Coverage through 
programs like Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), its implementing agency National Health Authority (NHA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with apex healthcare industry body NATHEALTH- Healthcare Federation of India.
The aim of this strategic partnership is to enable a seamless pathway that streamlines all innovations ensuring that it scales and increases the efficacy of PM-JAY service delivery. Further, this collaboration provides an industry interface for testing innovations; providing mentorship and creating channels for facilitating support required for scaling these innovations. This will bolster NHA’s effectiveness in implementing its innovation strategy, which is aligned with the its vision of “Health for All”.
NHA and NATHEALTH have jointly agreed to meet the following objectives through this MoU:
- Identifying and curating the best healthcare innovations and start-ups from
- Assessing healthcare innovations through varied perspectives such as clinical, technical, impact, sustainability and
- Enabling an ecosystem for healthcare innovations to engage with Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY.
- Enabling an ecosystem for the industry partners within the NATHEALTH network to participate in piloting, testing, adopting, funding and scaling
- Providing Go-to-market support across Tier I, II and III cities, and rural
- Starting a dialogue on ‘how to create an enabling regulatory framework for mainstreaming innovation’.
This initiative will focus on a variety of healthcare sectors, including but not limited to:
- Value-based healthcare
- Population health management, risk management and insurance administration
- Chronic secondary and tertiary ailments
- Digital health
- Medical Devices
- Health Data Analytics
- Technology-enabled models of healthcare delivery including leveraging innovations centered around frontier technologies
- Improving operational efficiency of service delivery of PM-JAY
The partnership will aim to create open platforms such as universities, start-up incubators and accelerators, private industries, investors (private capital, grant-giving organizations and foundations) that will enable engagement between different types of innovation organizations.
Speaking at the MoU signing, Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO, National Health Authority, said “NHA enthusiastically looks forward to this partnership. With the implementation of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, it is paramount that we increase the efficacy of the health service delivery such that we can provide an increased access to high quality of care. We have been witnessing a plethora of healthcare innovations happening across the country and it is crucial to empower them by providing the right support. I am confident that this partnership will help us in linking PM-JAY, the industry and the innovators thus enabling increased adoption of numerous inventions, leading to an increase in access to quality care delivered under PM-JAY.”
Airing his views on the scope of the partnership, Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, President, NATHEALTH said, “We welcome this opportunity to work with NHA to build partnerships with innovators, who will help shape healthcare in India. The main objective of the joint Initiative is to provide and enable a healthcare innovation ecosystem that supports healthcare innovators and provides them opportunities to partner and scale. We will be assessing these innovations from all perspectives within industry and connected innovation landscape. This initiative also aims to enable healthcare innovations to access private industry support, funding from private capital and other funders, and mentorship from clinical, technology and business experts.”
