ICMR Launches DISHA Portal to Improve Diagnostic Service Access in India

This free public resource helps individuals locate the nearest diagnostic health facilities, enabling increased utilisation of public health services. For the same, ICMR has integrated Geographic Information System capabilities in the DISHA portal.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has introduced the Diagnostic Services in Healthcare (DISHA) portal, an initiative aimed at improving access to diagnostic healthcare facilities across the country.

The portal, titled "DISHA: Availability & Geo-mapping of Laboratory Services in India," offers the public valuable information on nearby diagnostic healthcare options, enabling individuals to make informed decisions regarding the type of facility, test availability, costs, and turnaround times.

Dr Usha Agrawal, director and scientist G at ICMR’s, National Institute of Pathology in New Delhi, said, "This web portal is a dynamic platform which is being updated with new data-points as and when we have the access to required data. The ICMR is in the process of cataloguing diagnostic public healthcare facilities throughout the country and constructing a user-friendly and comprehensive dynamic online map to showcase the availability of relevant laboratory services."

According to Dr Agarwal, robust diagnostic healthcare services serve as the cornerstone of an efficient and high-quality healthcare system, with 60% to 70% of all critical healthcare decisions relying on evidence provided by laboratory services. Access to information about diagnostic tests' locations and availability is essential in a vast and diverse country like India.

She further added that to enhance accessibility to essential information, the ICMR implemented Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities to facilitate the identification and location of diagnostic healthcare services more effectively. This free public resource helps individuals locate the nearest diagnostic health facilities, enabling increased utilisation of public health services.

By mapping diagnostic health facilities, disparities in the availability of diagnostic services across various geographical locations and population densities can be reduced. This approach also helps in breaking down barriers to healthcare access and strengthening infrastructure and workforce at under-equipped facilities. Ultimately, it aims to decrease out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures and improve overall healthcare quality.

The Indian diagnostic healthcare system is complex and vast, involving various stakeholders and a varied geographical distribution. While the government has established guidelines for operating and maintaining the quality of diagnostic public health facilities, comprehensive information on the availability of tests, their costs, and infrastructure needs to be improved.

For instance, approximately 30% of tuberculosis cases go undiagnosed, leading to 1.5 million global deaths. Clinical overdiagnosis of malaria, unsupported by laboratory tests, has resulted in an error rate of 84.3% in Angola. Maternal mortality rates could be reduced by up to 38% if clinical misdiagnoses based on laboratory evidence were avoided.

By making diagnostic healthcare facilities more accessible and transparent, DISHA promises to address these challenges, providing a valuable resource for individuals, healthcare experts, and policymakers.

In another development, just days back, ICMR announced its venture into drone technology for healthcare in the Lahaul and Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh in alignment with India's drone ecosystem development initiative.

This effort seeks to evaluate the feasibility of using drones to transport critical medical supplies, including medications and diagnostic samples, to remote areas.