Centre launches online National Medical Register to boost quality healthcare

NEW DELHI — In a bid to strengthen the digital healthcare ecosystem, the government on Friday launched National Medical Register (NMR) portal that will be a comprehensive and dynamic database for all allopathic (MBBS) registered doctors in the country.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, J.P. Nadda, inaugurated the NMR Portal of the National Medical Commission (NMC), in presence of Union Ministers of State (MoS) Anupriya Patel and Prataprao Jadhav (in virtual mode), in the national capital.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to make India digitally sound and that can happen if the health ecosystem is also “digitally sturdy”.

The NMR is linked with the Aadhaar ID of the doctors which ensures the individual’s authenticity. “The National Health Register is a much-awaited step in this direction that will strengthen the digital healthcare ecosystem and will ensure quality healthcare to the people,” the minister said.

The online register will be upgraded and augmented with continuous improvements in the registration process on the portal.

Highlighting the role of the state medical councils (SMCs), Minister Nadda stated that SMCs are major stakeholders in the development and maintaining of National Medical Register and facilitating the registration process.

He urged the SMCs “for their active participation and to fasten the registration process” as their “efforts of authentication and speed of authentication will be a key factor in the success of NMR”.

“We are also moving in the direction of launching a similar register for the paramedics and other healthcare professionals,” the minister informed.

According to Patel, the NMR is important as authentic data on doctors across the country is crucial.

“The data on doctors to date has been in a scattered form that needs revision, and updation, and the NMR portal will ensure that. The easy registration process will ensure the maintenance of authentic data,” she mentioned.

Highlighting the importance of the NMR, Jadhav said that the NMR portal will ensure dynamic, authentic and consolidated data on the doctors in the country.

This will lead to transparency and quality of the medical professionals and will ensure the trust of the people in the healthcare system, as they will get verified information in a transparent manner, Jadhav added.