What is digital biometric identification?

How do you develop a patient centred healthcare system that serves vast numbers of transient poor people? India has an answer: Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), which has won plaudits from the World Bank and the United Nations as one of the world's best health insurance schemes.

RSBY combines state-of-the-art technology and incentive structures. It is paperless, does not use cash and provides affordable health insurance to millions of people. The overwhelming majority of who, are illiterate, transient people living below the poverty line.

RSBY employs cost effective, scalable technologies to help satisfy the health needs of a significant proportion of India’s poor. Enrolment of families into the scheme, biometric smart card generation, pre-authorization of admissions, as well as claim submission and approval, all occur electronically. Beneficiaries can use their smartcards in any empanelled hospital across India and therefore travel is no barrier to receiving healthcare. Patient data are transferred electronically between empanelled hospitals and insurance companies and claims are settled automatically. The scheme lowers costs, increases efficiency and reduces fraud.