National Health Claims Exchange will simplify health insurance claims processing across India, says NHA CEO
NHA CEO Dr Sunil Kumar Barnwal highlighted the role of the National Health Claims Exchange in simplifying health insurance claims during the NHCX Innovation Meet at IIT Hyderabad. The two-day event focused on digital solutions under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
Sangareddy: Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority (NHA), Dr Sunil Kumar Barnwal, said the complexity of health insurance claims remains one of the most persistent challenges in India’s health insurance ecosystem and highlighted the role of the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) in bringing standardisation and interoperability to the process.
“The NHCX is not limited to hospitals and insurance companies alone; it is a platform designed to serve the entire health care ecosystem, including patients, health care providers, insurers and technology innovators. The long-term vision for NHCX is similar to digital public infrastructure like UPI, where people may not know the underlying institution running the system, but they trust the platform because it works seamlessly and reliably for them,” he said.
Across the inaugural addresses, dignitaries emphasised that digital technologies, artificial intelligence and data-driven systems are central to strengthening claims processing and improving the quality of health care delivery at scale.
The National Health Authority organised the NHCX Innovation Meet at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH), bringing together regulators, State governments, industry leaders, technology innovators and academic institutions to advance the adoption of interoperable, standards-aligned health claims solutions under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
The two-day event, conducted on March 6 and 7, also marked the grand finale of the NHCX Hackathon held from February 22 to 28, where winning teams presented their solutions before a distinguished gathering. The NHCX is one of the three gateways under ABDM, developed to simplify and standardise health insurance claims processing across the country.
The hackathon was organised in collaboration with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), General Insurance Council (GIC), National Resource Centre for EHR Standards (NRCeS), Insurance Information Bureau (IIB), National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), IITH, Google, India Insurtech Association (IIA) and NATHealth, reflecting a collaborative approach towards simplifying the claims process across the health care ecosystem.
On the occasion, the NHA also launched three partnerships aimed at deepening collaboration and recognising partner contributions to the adoption of ABDM across the country. The NHCX Champions initiative recognises organisations that have played a key role in operationalising and scaling the NHCX across the payer and provider ecosystem. The two-day event concluded with remarks by Joint Secretary and Mission Director (ABDM), NHA, Kiran Gopal Vaska, and Chairman of IRDAI, Ajay Seth. Through ecosystem-driven innovation, policy dialogue and recognition of partners driving NHCX adoption, the Innovation Meet is expected to accelerate the development of a digitally integrated and interoperable health claims ecosystem in India.
