Samsung Integrates Ayushman Bharat Health Records With Health App, But Multi-party Data Sharing Sparks Concerns

In a seemingly first initiative, Samsung has introduced the Health Records feature in the Samsung Health app, which enables users to create and access their Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) directly through the app.

Users can now manage health data generated by healthcare providers across India, digitizing and integrating it into the country’s digital health ecosystem, “aligned with the Indian government’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) project.”

The introduction of the health records feature for India enables “data sharing with doctors and caretakers in a secure manner anytime”. 

Samsung has partnered with Eka Care, an ABDM-certified integrator, and a PHR (personal health records) app that “helps users to store medical records & monitor health vitals.”

For the functionality of this feature, users have to register for an ABHA account within the Samsung Health app with their Aadhaar or mobile phone numbers.  Once registered, users gain access to view their medical history, including prescriptions, laboratory results, hospital visits, and more — “all securely linked to their unique ABHA IDs.”

This partnership aims to accelerate the adoption of ABDM across India, and aims to unburden “cumbersome paper trails.”

Moreover, when visiting ABDM-compliant hospitals and clinics, users can scan the QR code using the Samsung Health app to get a virtual queue token.  

Why it matter?

Samsung has been expanding in the healthcare sector through various initiatives and partnerships:

Galaxy Ring: Samsung introduced a smart ring designed for health and wellness monitoring, tracking metrics like sleep quality and heart rate to provide personalized wellness insights.

SmartThings Family Care: Samsung launched this service to facilitate caregivers in remotely monitoring and supporting individuals using smart home devices and Galaxy smartphones.

Open Innovation Initiative: Samsung partnered with multiple institutions to explore advancements in the “digital health ecosystem and new approaches to wellness.” 

Digital wellness and healthcare apps have been on the rise. Healthify, the sole Indian startup featured at OpenAI Devday 2024, has also partnered with Google and Anthropic to drive the development of personalized health coaches in India. It has leveraged AI to personalise health coaching and tracking services.

These innovations also amplify concerns about how sensitive health data is managed and shared across platforms. With partnerships involving multiple stakeholders, the risk of data misuse or breaches increases, especially if transparency and accountability measures are insufficient. 

Data Privacy in the Digitisation of Health 

This partnership’s setup indicates data sharing between three platforms: the Samsung Health app, Eka Care, and the ABDM platform. 

‘Privacy by Design’ was one of the fundamental principles of the ABDM, according to a response from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to a Lok Sabha question. 

The response also stated that there was no centralized data repository for the ABDM and that it prohibited sharing health data without the patient’s explicit consent. The government had also issued several strict guidelines and regulations that were in alignment with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, as claimed in the answer.

Launched in 2021, the ABDM aims to digitize citizens’ health records and connect various healthcare providers, creating a unified information source within India’s health ecosystem.

However, this did not seem to align with what MediaNama had previously reported about the ABDM. The dashboard of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (PMJAY), a health insurance scheme, allowed users to view details of patients receiving treatment under the mission across different states without requiring login credentials. The dashboard also publicly displayed personal information such as the patient’s name, discharge date, and out-of-pocket expenses. This disclosure appeared to violate the Health Data Management Policy, as outlined in the government’s recent response in parliament. Experts consulted by MediaNama also noted that it was possible to infer more personal details from the limited data provided on the dashboard.

Read More: 

• Error 404: Privacy Not Found in Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission’s PMJAY Dashboard
• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Claims ‘Privacy By Design’ Focus, Yet Dashboard Exposes Patient Details
• Digital health in India: Can eSanjeevani Overcome its Shortcomings to Complement Ayushman Bharat?

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