Digitally unified insurance platforms: Digitally unified health insurance systems could make India’s subsidised coverage programmes more transparent, efficient and accessible, according to a new study by the Goa Institute of Management (GIM) in collaboration with the WHO and the Gates Foundation.
The research, conducted with the Kerala Health Department, examines how integrated digital health-financing platforms can strengthen health systems and support India’s progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The paper, titled “Health System Reform Powered by Data Integration of Health Financing: Lessons from India,” has been published in Health Systems and Reform.
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As India expands public insurance schemes, the study argues that bringing data and processes onto a unified platform is critical for better service delivery and stronger oversight. It points to the evolution of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) as a valuable real-world example of how digital integration can reshape large-scale health financing.
The researchers found that before PMJAY, multiple standalone programmes ran on different ICT platforms with separate operational rules and administrative structures. This lack of coordination, they said, limited efficiency, weakened fraud detection, slowed system-wide reforms and restricted portability of benefits. It also reduced the government’s ability to track utilisation and spending patterns comprehensively.
A unified ICT approach, the study notes, is more than a technical upgrade. It can serve as a central data backbone connecting stakeholders and enabling long-term health-system reforms. According to Arif Raza, Associate Professor at GIM, integrated platforms can help build the infrastructure needed for sustained change.
The analysis also highlights that consolidated digital systems can improve portability across State boundaries and facility networks, reducing earlier geographical restrictions. In addition, unified data can support real-time monitoring, cut administrative duplication, and enable advanced analytics to detect anomalies and reduce fraud.
By showing how digital integration can improve equity, accountability and access, the study suggests that India, and other countries modernising health financing, could move more effectively from fragmented insurance models towards universal health coverage.
