Karnataka Approves SAMASTA Rollout to Digitise Health Records

SAMASTA will also integrate family IDs, Aadhaar-based verification, Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs, and other government digital health systems.

The Karnataka government has approved the phased implementation of the SAMASTA digital platform to digitise health records across the state's public health system.

Designed to replace paper-based registers maintained by frontline health workers, the initiative is expected to reduce repetitive data entry by around 75% while improving the quality, accessibility, and use of health data and strengthening integration with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).

The initiative builds on Karnataka's 2026-27 Budget announcement to digitise records maintained by field-level health staff.

Across India, frontline workers such as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), and health inspectors continue to maintain multiple registers under different national health programmes, often recording the same information several times. This has increased administrative workload while affecting data accuracy and timely reporting.

SAMASTA has been introduced to simplify this process by capturing health information digitally at the point of care.

The platform will be deployed across Ayushman Arogya Kendras, primary health centres, and other government health facilities.

It will replace extensive paper registers with a mobile application that works in both online and offline modes, allowing health workers to continue data collection even in areas with limited internet connectivity.

The application has reduced the number of data fields in the ASHA diary from 485 to 134 key data elements.

The platform is designed to eliminate duplicate entries by ensuring information is entered only once and reused across relevant health programmes.

SAMASTA will also integrate family IDs, Aadhaar-based verification, Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) IDs, and other government digital health systems.

The application will be aligned with the ABDM, enabling interoperability with India's broader digital health ecosystem while following prescribed standards for data privacy and security.

Before expanding statewide, the government piloted the platform in Udupi district.

The pilot recorded 95% beneficiary registration, 85% completion of health check-ups, and the linking of more than four lakh ABHA IDs, providing the basis for its phased rollout across Karnataka after staff training.

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