Recently launched six ambitious health schemes in Himachal Pradesh :

 Digital Nerve Centre (DiNC), LaQshya Programme, Anemia Mukt Bharat, e-Compliance programme and Mobile App of Universal Health Protection Scheme.

Digital Nerve Centre (DiNC) :

Digital Nerve Centre (DiNC) has been launched in association with TATA Trust for linking the patients with specialist doctors for world class treatment. DiNC, which is using a range of technologies to deliver cutting edge healthcare to local residents. The DiNC aims to improve access to healthcare by improving facilities in primary health centers and with the use of ‘telemedicine’ to provide medical care from specialists. By linking local centers to this regional hub via video facilities, access to specialist care is spread much more widely at very low cost.

This could mean, for example, world-class oncologists examining a patient remotely – assessing their tests results and advising local doctors of the next steps for treatment and care. Patient records will also be digitised so that they can be accessed by specialist teams anywhere, meaning the right people can see the right records at a moment’s notice. This streamlining saves time and resources, with the potential to transform the healthcare experience – especially for those on low incomes who have often struggled to get high-quality care.

The new center will coordinate the care of 14 million families in the area and serve as a model of health care delivery.

The digital infrastructure for the DiNC will be supported by Tata Trusts, which has provided the necessary software, platform and service. The state government will provide the manpower needed to deliver the services. The Tata group is deploying the same model elsewhere in India. DiNCs have been established in three states – Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana – covering over 600 healthcare centers and reaching out to more than five million people.

LaQshya ( Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative) :

LaQshya Programme is an initiative to improve the quality of care in the labour rooms and operation theatres and other areas related to mother and child to reduce proportion of maternal and newborn deaths. Anemia Mukt Bharat is a step towards making mothers and children anemia free. Mobile App of Universal Health Protection Scheme aims at achieving universal health coverage while e-Compliance is an endeavour to check TB in the country and ensure 100 per cent compliance of treatment of TB. The Chief Minister also laid foundation stone of 100 bedded Mother and Child Health Wing at regional hospital Kullu to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 20 crore.

Anemia mukt Bharat :

It aims to reduce prevalence of anemia by 3 percentage points per year among children, adolescents and women in the reproductive age group (15–49 years), between the year 2018 and 2022. The strategy is to reach out to 450 million beneficiaries with specific anemia prevalence targets for year 2022.

Anemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or their oxygen-carrying capacity is insufficient to meet the body’s physiological requirements, which vary by age, sex, altitude, smoking habits, and during pregnancy.

E Compliance Programme :

eCompliance is a biometric terminal that contributes to preventing drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis from developing during patient treatment. Operation ASHA has developed eCompliance with Microsoft Research and Innovators in Health to reliably track and report each dose that a patient takes. It is an open-source software that runs on commercially available, ‘offthe-shelf’ components.

Patients are registered on the system using the fingerprint scanner. Each time the patient returns to the center for their scheduled visit, they scan their finger at the terminal. This creates a verifiable log of patients who were present for treatment.

eCompliance should become the new internationally-recognized standard in tuberculosis control.

It is the most reliable method of tracking treatment default, and has the potential to halt the exponential growth of drugresistant TB.

H.P. Universal Health Protection Scheme (HPUHPS) :

To improve access, of enrolled beneficiaries and their families to quality healthcare for cashless treatment of diseases involving hospitalization through empanelled healthcare providers. There will be no family cap. Maximum five members can be enrolled in a smart card so if the family size will be more than five, one additional card will be given to the family. Pre-existing conditions/diseases are covered from the first day of the start of Policy. Coverage of health services related to surgical nature for defined procedures shall also be provided on a day care basis. Pre and post hospitalization costs up to 1 day prior to hospitalization and up to 5 days from the date of discharge from the hospital shall be part of the package rates under basic Package. And up to 15 day prior to hospitalization and up to 60 days from the date of discharge from the hospital shall be part of the package rates under critical care Package.
The benefit will be provided through only smart card. The Governor, Himachal Pradesh is further pleased to increase the premium from Rs.365/-(Rupees Three Hundred Sixty Five) only per year/per family to Rs. 1,000/- (Rupees One Thousand) only under Himachal Pradesh Universal Health Protection Scheme(HPUHPS). The beneficiary family will pay Rs. 1,000/- (up to unit of five members) at the time of enrolment for getting the cashless treatment benefit up to Rs. 5.00 Lakh per year.