Google to revolutionise Indian healthcare with ABHA ID on Wallet and AI innovations, says top exec Bakul Patel

Technology giant Google has announced that the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID — a digital health ID providing access to healthcare services and personal health records in India — will be available on Google Wallet next year. In an interview with Business Today, Bakul Patel, Senior Director of Global Digital Health Regulatory Strategy at Google, discussed the company’s commitment to expanding its presence in India by integrating health features into platforms like Search, YouTube, and Android. He also highlighted the transformative potential of AI in diagnostics and patient care.
BT: How is Google collaborating with the Indian government on key healthcare initiatives, such as improving digital health infrastructure or expanding healthcare access in rural areas?
Bakul Patel: We support the Government of India’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA). Google’s research team has provided thought leadership that contributed to the development of open-source tools, helping developers integrate more efficiently with the digital architecture. We are assisting the NHA in strengthening India’s health infrastructure to meet the needs of people across the country. We are also partnering with Eka Care to improve access to Ayushman Bharat Health ID cards, enabling individuals to store health information and share it with healthcare providers. Starting next year (2025), ABHA IDs will be available through Google Wallet, allowing users to authenticate securely via fingerprint, PIN, or passcode.
BT: What strategies is Google using to drive healthcare innovation in India while balancing innovation with patient safety and regulatory compliance?
BP: Through Google Health, our company-wide initiative, we integrate health into products and services such as Search, YouTube, Android, and Cloud. India’s digital transformation has created numerous opportunities for us to bring this commitment to its diverse population. We focus on advancing digital adoption for health consumers, collaborating on technology that transforms healthcare, and building capabilities to strengthen India’s public health infrastructure. Information plays a crucial role in health; access to the right information at the right time can save lives. This is why we have partnered with several healthcare providers in India to deliver reliable, easy-to-understand health information. This content is prominently featured on platforms like the English and Hindi health shelves on YouTube, covering common health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, depression, and anxiety.
We are working across the healthcare ecosystem to develop and deploy AI-powered solutions responsibly to improve health outcomes. For example, our ongoing partnership with Apollo Radiology International aims to make tuberculosis and lung and breast cancer screenings more accessible. Additionally, we support India’s public health infrastructure through our collaboration with the National Health Authority, where our contributions have helped build open-source tools that streamline integration with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, reducing integration time from six months to less than two weeks.
BT: How do you see AI transforming India’s healthcare sector, particularly in diagnostics, remote monitoring, and patient care management?
BP: AI has the potential to bring significant changes to healthcare, going beyond incremental improvements. It can transform how we prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases, making healthcare more accessible and patient-centered. India’s healthcare ecosystem is already adopting this potential. Apollo Radiology International is using AI for mobile screenings for tuberculosis, lung, and breast cancer, bringing diagnostic technology directly to people. Their aim is to provide 3 million free AI-powered screenings, helping many individuals across India access timely care. AI can also assist in identifying new markers for disease detection. Salcit Technologies, a respiratory healthcare company in India, is exploring Google’s Hear Acoustic Representation (HeAR) foundational model to enhance the capabilities of its tuberculosis detection platform, which uses cough sounds.
By reducing the administrative burden on clinicians, AI can create more time for meaningful patient interaction. For instance, the Clinical Intelligence Engine, built by a Google Cloud customer, uses models on Cloud’s Vertex AI to summarize patient medical histories and provide real-time insights while ensuring data privacy. These examples reflect our approach to partnering with India’s health ecosystem to strengthen its capacity to meet the needs of the country’s healthcare system.
BT: Which healthcare technologies is Google prioritizing for growth in India, and how are these technologies expected to impact healthcare accessibility?
BP: We see significant potential in India to bring our tools to support health solutions and enhance the health journeys of many people. We are focused on health equity, driven by the belief that technology can help reduce disparities and improve access to healthcare. Developing health features and products that work across diverse settings and languages is central to our strategy in India. On Search, we have developed over 800 knowledge panels in English and Hindi to provide accurate, reliable information on common health queries. We are also expanding partnerships to surface hotlines for suicide prevention, domestic violence, and sexual assault on Search.
In addition, we are prioritizing advanced technologies like AI and machine learning to support the healthcare ecosystem. In partnership with ARMMAN, an Indian nonprofit, we are using AI-based predictive models to help retain women at high risk of dropping out of its maternal health program. This initiative has enabled more women and children to benefit from vital health information. We are also supporting ARMMAN in implementing the Government of India’s maternal health program, which reaches millions across the country.
Source: Businesstoday