Feedback on consultation paper on the proposed Health Data Retention Policy

Terms of use

Terms of Use

The use of this site and the content contained therein is governed by the Terms of Use. When you use this site you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Use and that you accept and will be bound by the terms hereof and such terms as may be modified from time to time.

All text, graphics, audio, design and other works on the site are the copyrighted works of nasscom unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.
Content on the site is for personal use only and may be downloaded provided the material is kept intact and there is no violation of the copyrights, trademarks, and other proprietary rights. Any alteration of the material or use of the material contained in the site for any other purpose is a violation of the copyright of nasscom and / or its affiliates or associates or of its third-party information providers. This material cannot be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted or distributed in any way for non-personal use without obtaining the prior permission from nasscom.
The nasscom Members login is for the reference of only registered nasscom Member Companies.
nasscom reserves the right to modify the terms of use of any service without any liability. nasscom reserves the right to take all measures necessary to prevent access to any service or termination of service if the terms of use are not complied with or are contravened or there is any violation of copyright, trademark or other proprietary right.
From time to time nasscom may supplement these terms of use with additional terms pertaining to specific content (additional terms). Such additional terms are hereby incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use.

Disclaimer

The Company information provided on the nasscom web site is as per data collected by companies. nasscom is not liable on the authenticity of such data.
nasscom has exercised due diligence in checking the correctness and authenticity of the information contained in the site, but nasscom or any of its affiliates or associates or employees shall not be in any way responsible for any loss or damage that may arise to any person from any inadvertent error in the information contained in this site. The information from or through this site is provided "as is" and all warranties express or implied of any kind, regarding any matter pertaining to any service or channel, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement are disclaimed. nasscom and its affiliates and associates shall not be liable, at any time, for any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorised access to, alteration of, or use of information contained on the site. No representations, warranties or guarantees whatsoever are made as to the accuracy, adequacy, reliability, completeness, suitability or applicability of the information to a particular situation.
nasscom or its affiliates or associates or its employees do not provide any judgments or warranty in respect of the authenticity or correctness of the content of other services or sites to which links are provided. A link to another service or site is not an endorsement of any products or services on such site or the site.
The content provided is for information purposes alone and does not substitute for specific advice whether investment, legal, taxation or otherwise. nasscom disclaims all liability for damages caused by use of content on the site.
All responsibility and liability for any damages caused by downloading of any data is disclaimed.
nasscom reserves the right to modify, suspend / cancel, or discontinue any or all sections, or service at any time without notice.

For any grievances under the Information Technology Act 2000, please get in touch with Grievance Officer, Mr. Anirban Mandal at data-query@nasscom.in.

New

See all

No notification found.

Feedback on consultation paper on the proposed Health Data Retention Policy

Jayakumar Selvaraj

@Jayakumar

December 29, 2021

Public Policy

223

The National Health Authority (NHA) published a consultation paper on the proposed Health Data Retention Policy in Nov 2021 for feedback from stakeholders. The policy aimed to maximize benefits from usage of this data, while keeping the risks associated with personal health data to the minimum. The paper classified health data into various categories and proposed minimum retention duration for these categories. The proposed approach also covered the mode of retention and proposed a governance structure for this policy.

NASSCOM and the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) made a joint submission on this paper. In our feedback, we pointed out the need for such a policy to ensure standardization in market practice across India’s healthcare ecosystem and welcome the proposed approach.

The key suggestions made in the feedback are listed below.

Phased implementation: Till the proposed data protection law comes into effect, we suggested that the policy be made applicable only to entities participating in Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). For entities outside the ABDM, the health data retention policy may be presented as a set of voluntary guidelines. Once the law comes in to force the scope could be expanded to cover all healthcare entities. MoHFW and the NHA in consultation with the Data Protection Authority (DPA) can roll out health data retention policy as a code of practice under the PDP Bill, thereby allowing them to work together to implement such a health data retention policy at a “universal” level across the healthcare sector.
Health Data classification: Rather than a blanket retention duration for all health records, different durations should be defined as per a classification. In this context we agree with the classification proposed in the paper, which envisages four categories - inpatients, outpatients, deceased patients, and special categories.
Retention Duration: The paper proposes a minimum retention period of 10 years after the last entry/encounter for inpatients, outpatients and deceased patients. For certain exceptions like Medico Legal Documents, Immunization records, Clinical trials, Birth Register and Death Register the paper suggest that records are maintained permanently. We agree with the duration suggested.
Risk Management: To account for privacy and security risks, we recommended that the policy set out clear archival strategies that are to be followed after the minimum periods are completed (1) health data that does not have to be maintained permanently should be deleted or, if maintained for research and statistical purposes, anonymised, and securely stored; and (2) health data that does have to be maintained permanently should be deidentified to reduce privacy or security risks.
Mode of Retention: The policy should permit health data to be maintained in both digital and physical formats and should encourage entities to transition to the use of digital formats over time. This approach is suggested for two main reasons. First, the policy should recognize the retention of physical records since this is necessary to maintain legacy records. Second, at present, many healthcare entities may not have the infrastructure to digitize health data creation, management and storage systems and processes end-to-end.

Our submission is also attached.

health data

Disclaimer

That the contents of third-party articles/blogs published here on the website, and the interpretation of all information in the article/blogs such as data, maps, numbers, opinions etc. displayed in the article/blogs and views or the opinions expressed within the content are solely of the author's; and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of NASSCOM or its affiliates in any manner. NASSCOM does not take any liability w.r.t. content in any manner and will not be liable in any manner whatsoever for any kind of liability arising out of any act, error or omission. The contents of third-party article/blogs published, are provided solely as convenience; and the presence of these articles/blogs should not, under any circumstances, be considered as an endorsement of the contents by NASSCOM in any manner; and if you chose to access these articles/blogs , you do so at your own risk.

Download Attachment

Jayakumar Selvaraj

Jayakumar

Call for Inputs: TEC’s Draft Standa...

moncourt.ananya831