Patient and Process identifiers in Nikshay

Patient Identifiers are key for identifying a patient in the Nikshay. Ideally, there should be only one identifier for each patient which identifies patient as well as processes for lifetime. However, during the continuum of care, one identifier may not be appropriate to represent the episodes and other processes. Hence there are various ids which are tagged to one patient in Nikshay. Knowing each ID and its purpose is therefore important. The various IDs that are present in Nikshay and their purpose are described below:

1. Patient ID:  In Nikshay, a TB patient can be identified by their Name, Patient ID and Nikshay ID. Since, patients might get enrolled at one primary health institute (PHI), diagnosed at another and initiated on treatment at a different PHI, the ID has been simplified to a unique number. 
2. Episode ID: In a life cycle approach, a person needs to be tracked across episodes of TB known as the Episode ID. In the first episode, the Patient ID = Episode ID (will be numerically equal), the patient is notified and completes one treatment cycle (Diagnosis to outcome). However, the patient may continue to have TB or have TB again at a later point in time. This is recorded as a second notification and becomes the second Episode of TB. A patient may be identified in Nikshay using a global search by both Episode ID and Patient ID.
3. Test ID: When request for a laboratory test and test result for a patient is added under Nikshay, it generates a unique Test ID. For multiple tests added a new Test ID is generated for a patient.
4. Transfer ID: In Nikshay, a transfer request of patients between health facilities across the country feature is enabled. Users make requests of two types - “Transfer In” and “Transfer Out”. This process generates a unique Transfer ID for the patient. The details of Transfer In and Transfer Out with Transfer ID are available in Nikshay’s Transfer Management feature.
5. Sample ID: It is essential that patient samples are registered in Nikshay. While “Adding Test(s)” when sample details are added, Sample IDs are auto-generated. Sample IDs help to track samples in Nikshay using this unique ID.
6. Benefit ID: A “Benefit” defined in the Nikshay-PFMS (Public Finance Management System) is a payment due to a beneficiary under a particular scheme. For example, in Nikshay Poshan Yojana (TB Patient Nutritional Support Scheme), the beneficiary is a case of Tuberculosis, notified to Nikshay. This beneficiary under the scheme is eligible for Rs 500 for each treatment month. Thus Nikshay generates a Benefit ID that identifies the patient eligible for benefits @ Rs. 500 for each treatment month.
7. Beneficiary ID: A beneficiary is a person/ citizen who is eligible to get benefits (financial or in kind) under any government scheme. Whenever Nikshay identifies a potential beneficiary, it issues a unique beneficiary ID to it. All the benefits processed or paid to a beneficiary are tracked using the Nikshay Beneficiary ID. For example, if a patient has multiple episodes, all the benefits of the patient across episodes are managed using the Beneficiary ID. This information is available in the Beneficiary register exported from Nikshay.
8. Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID: The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID is a 14-digit number which can uniquely identify persons and authenticate them (previously known as Health ID). It can be used to access and digitally share one's health records, with consent. ABHA is integrated into Nikshay and addresses ABHA creation, capture and verification for seamless patient registration in Nikshay. Nikshay uses the Aadhaar verification services provided by NDHM (National Digital Health Mission) to generate ABHA.

Resources

• Nikshay-search for a patient, how to identify Nikshay ID/Patient ID, how to register a patient, Adding a new Episode, how to generate Test ID, Transfer Management, Sample ID generation_Diagnostics, Direct Benefit Transfer Manual, Training Video on Direct Benefit Transfer,  ABHA Workflow

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