Tripura’s ongoing efforts to transform its healthcare delivery system through digital technology were highlighted at ‘Arogya Manthan 2026’, held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Thursday.

The event was organised to mark eight years of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and five years of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).

Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda attended the programme as the chief guest. National Health Authority CEO Dr Sunil Kumar Barnwal and other senior officials and dignitaries were also present.

As part of the programme, state’s Health Secretary Kiran Gitte participated in a panel discussion on the digital transformation of healthcare and presented the state’s approach and experience in implementing the Integrated Health Management Information System (IHMIS).

Gitte explained Tripura’s vision of moving away from fragmented and paper-based healthcare processes towards a connected, interoperable and citizen-centric digital health ecosystem. Under the approach, IHMIS is envisaged as the operational backbone, while ABDM will provide the framework for interoperability across the health system.

He said the objective of IHMIS goes beyond merely computerising hospital registration. The initiative seeks to digitally connect citizens, doctors, nurses, healthcare facilities, pharmacies, laboratories and various health programmes through a common ecosystem.

The integrated system is expected to facilitate electronic health records across the state, more efficient utilisation of healthcare resources, shorter patient waiting times, improved emergency services, automated processes, real-time reporting and analytics, better decision-making and more effective grievance redressal.

Speaking about Tripura’s digital health roadmap, Gitte said the state has set October 31, 2026, as the target for completing the digital health transformation process. The initiative is being expanded across the entire public health system, covering district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals, community health centres, primary health centres and health sub-centres.

Alongside the digital systems, work is also progressing on connectivity, hardware, training and operational implementation to ensure effective adoption of the technology at the grassroots level.

The Health Secretary also underlined the importance of key ABDM components, including ABHA, Health Facility Registries, Healthcare Professional Registries, interoperable health records and consent-based data exchange.

For citizens, the digital transformation is expected to enable digital registration, ABHA-based identification, digital prescriptions and laboratory reports, access to digital health records and reduced dependence on paper-based processes. It is also aimed at ensuring continuity of care when patients access services at different healthcare facilities.

Interoperability and standardisation of health data emerged as another key focus of the discussion. Gitte explained that common standards would create a uniform framework for hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and health programmes, making information exchange more effective.

Such standardisation, he said, would also provide decision-makers with a clearer, near-real-time picture of healthcare delivery and enable more informed planning and management.

He further pointed out that interoperability is particularly important for a small state like Tripura as it can help prevent the creation of isolated digital systems across different health programmes and facilities.

A common digital foundation, he said, would also support future innovations such as analytics, dashboards, clinical decision-support systems and AI-driven applications.

Emphasizing the importance of implementation, Gitte said the real measure of success would not merely be the launch of digital services or platforms, but their effective and meaningful utilisation across the health system.

The state government is also giving priority to capacity building. Various training programmes have been undertaken to strengthen the digital healthcare skills and capabilities of health workers across Tripura’s eight districts.

Gitte’s participation in the national-level panel discussion provided an opportunity to showcase Tripura’s ongoing progress in implementing IHMIS and ABDM, while outlining the state’s vision of building a modern, technology-driven and integrated healthcare system.