Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
“Ek desh, ek digital health identity” – a revolutionary step towards digitalizing India’s health system.
Let us start with a simple question:
➡️ When you change doctors or hospitals, what is the first thing they ask? Your medical history.
But how often do you carry your previous prescriptions, reports, or diagnosis papers? Rarely, right?
This is where ABDM comes in. Launched in 2021, it aims to build a national-level digital infrastructure where your entire medical history — past prescriptions, lab reports, treatment records — can be safely stored and accessed digitally anytime, anywhere — with your consent.
Let’s understand this:
🔷 Quick Overview
| Feature | Details |
| Purpose | To create a digital ecosystem for healthcare – ensuring continuity of care and optimal resource use. |
| Scheme Type | Central Sector Scheme (100% funded by the Centre) |
| Tenure | 5 years |
| Implementing Agency | National Health Authority (NHA) |
🎯 Objective
To develop a strong digital backbone for India’s healthcare system and bridge the communication gap among patients, hospitals, labs, doctors, and insurers.
🧱 Salient Features
Let’s now understand its six key components, each one like a pillar of this mission:
1. ABHA & ABHA App
- ABHA = Ayushman Bharat Health Account.
- It gives every citizen a 14-digit unique health ID – like Aadhaar, but for health.
- The ABHA App helps you upload, scan, and store your medical records — all on your phone.
So, you don’t need to carry your x-rays, blood reports, or prescriptions — they are stored digitally and can be shared when needed.
2. Health Facility Registry (HFR)
- A national database of all public and private healthcare facilities — hospitals, clinics, labs, etc.
- Helps in standardizing healthcare infrastructure data.
3. Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR)
- Database of all doctors and health practitioners — both modern medicine (allopathy) and traditional systems (like Ayurveda, Homeopathy, etc.).
- Ensures authenticity, traceability, and access to verified professionals.
4. Unified Health Interface (UHI)
- Think of this as the UPI of healthcare.
- A platform where different apps can offer teleconsultations, book appointments, and facilitate other services.
- Promotes interoperability — i.e., different apps working with each other smoothly
5. Health Information Exchange & Consent Manager (HIE-CM)
- This is the heart of data privacy.
- Allows patients to access and share their health records with doctors or hospitals.
- But this sharing happens only after informed consent — your data remains yours.
6. National Health Claims Exchange (HCX)
- A platform that standardizes and fast-tracks insurance claims.
- Great for reducing delays in health insurance reimbursements.
🌐 Microsite Project
- A cluster model where local networks of hospitals, pharmacies, and labs are created in defined areas.
- Especially helps in bringing private sector players on board with the ABDM ecosystem.
🌟 Key Initiatives under ABDM
🟠 Scan and Share
- A simple yet powerful initiative:
Hospitals provide a QR code at OPDs (Outpatient Departments).
Patients scan it, digitally register themselves, and avoid long queues.
It reduces waiting time and speeds up patient flow — much needed in government hospitals!
🟢 Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS)
- To encourage adoption of digital practices by hospitals, clinics, and labs.
- Provides financial incentives up to ₹4 crore to public and private healthcare institutions.
- The more you integrate with ABDM, the more rewards you get.
📌 In Summary
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is India’s bold leap into 21st-century healthcare — bringing digital transformation in the way patients interact with doctors, hospitals, and insurance.
“ABDM is not just a policy; it is an ecosystem — with ABHA as your identity, doctors and hospitals on record, privacy protected, and your health history in your control.”