Celebrating Five Years of Excellence in Healthcare In Uttar Pradesh

“A scheme with a satisfaction rate to the tune of 99% of the patients makes me so proud as an Indian. It is no less than a soft landing on the moon.”

These words by Dr Vinod K. Paul, Member – NITI Aayog and father of the Ayushman Bharat reforms, sum up the impact of the five years of partnership between ACCESS Health and SACHIS—the implementation agency for the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, better known as PM-JAY.

To mark five years of the scheme in Uttar Pradesh, SACHIS and ACCESS Health conducted a stakeholder consultation—Ayushman Samvad: Healthcare Excellence in Uttar Pradesh—on August 25 in Lucknow in the presence of dignitaries like Dr. Paul, along with Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Kumar Pathak; State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh; Dr Santosh Mathew, Country Lead, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Dr Krishna Reddy, President – Asia, ACCESS Health International amongst others.

The event not only highlighted the feats of the scheme—especially in the last year—but also facilitated dialogues to direct PM-JAY implementation towards digital transformation and quality, patient-centric care.

The first technical discussion of the day focused on the challenges and successes of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission adoption in Uttar Pradesh, while also deliberating on the need for digital innovations to reduce friction in the patient journey and empower service providers.

The second technical session on Value-Based and Patient-Centric Care was moderated by Dr. Krishna Reddy and focused on defining the parameters of quality care. “Only when you can ensure access (for patients) and financial viability (for providers) can you ensure quality in healthcare,” said Dr. Reddy, following which the other panelists stressed the need for PM-JAY to mature into a scheme incentivizing quality care and for this transformation to happen at scale for sustainability.

As PM-JAY completes five years in September, the day-long Ayushman Samvad was the first in a series of dialogues and events to celebrate the demi-decade of implementation. ACCESS Health has been a proud technical partner for PM-JAY since 2018 and looks forward to many more years of collaboration with SACHIS and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.