India’s healthcare sector is at a critical inflection point. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) introduces a comprehensive legal framework that fundamentally changes how hospitals, diagnostic centres, and healthcare groups must collect, process, store, and share patient data. With penalties of up to INR 250 crore for significant non-compliance, DPDPA readiness is now a board-level priority.

Hospitals are among the most data-intensive organisations in the economy. Every patient interaction generates sensitive personal data across registration, electronic medical records, diagnostic reports, prescriptions, insurance claims, and billing systems. This data flows across internal departments, external laboratories, insurance TPAs, referral hospitals, and cloud-based health information systems—creating multiple compliance exposure points under the DPDP Act.

The challenge is further amplified by the sensitive nature of healthcare data, including medical history, treatments, and diagnostic insights. Hospitals processing such data at scale may be classified as Significant Data Fiduciaries (SDFs), triggering enhanced obligations such as Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), appointment of Data Protection Officers (DPOs), and periodic compliance audits.

In this environment, Identity and Access Management (IAM) becomes the foundational layer for operational DPDPA compliance. Without strong IAM controls, hospitals cannot reliably answer critical compliance questions—who accessed which patient record, whether valid consent was obtained before data sharing, how nominee access is handled under Section 14, or whether access is revoked when staff exit.

This report examines the intersection of DPDPA requirements and IAM capabilities for the Indian healthcare sector and outlines how a unified, India-ready IAM platform can help hospitals meet compliance obligations while improving security, operational efficiency, and patient trust.