ABDM integration comes up in almost every hospital software discussion in India, usually wrapped in acronyms. This guide explains what the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is, what its building blocks mean for a hospital, how the integration milestones work, and what you need to go live.
What is ABDM?
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is India’s national programme to build a connected digital health ecosystem, run by the National Health Authority (NHA). It began as the National Digital Health Mission, announced in August 2020, and was launched nationwide as ABDM in September 2021. Its aim is that a patient’s health records, created at different hospitals, labs and clinics, can be brought together and shared securely with the patient’s consent.
The building blocks, in plain language
- ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account): a 14-digit health ID number for a person, plus an ABHA address such as name@abdm.
- PHR app: an ABHA-enabled personal health record app where patients see linked records and approve consent requests.
- HFR (Health Facility Registry): the national registry of hospitals, clinics and labs.
- HPR (Health Professional Registry): the national registry of doctors and other health professionals.
- HIE-CM (Health Information Exchange & Consent Manager): the switch that routes consent requests and encrypted health data.
- HIP (Health Information Provider): a facility that creates records and shares them, such as a hospital or lab.
- HIU (Health Information User): a facility or app that requests and views records from others, with consent.
The integration milestones
Software vendors integrate with ABDM in milestones, each tested in the ABDM sandbox before production use:
| Milestone | Role | What the software does |
|---|---|---|
| M1 | ABHA | Create and verify ABHA numbers, log in with ABHA, fetch the ABHA profile, Scan & Share registration |
| M2 | Health Information Provider | Create care contexts for visits and reports, let patients link them, and share FHIR records on consent |
| M3 | Health Information User | Request consent and fetch a patient’s records from other facilities |
Some vendors also describe insurance claims through the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) as a further milestone. For most hospitals, M1 and M2 are the milestones that matter first: they let you register patients with ABHA and make your records available to them.
How records are shared: care contexts and consent
Every visit, admission or report the hospital creates becomes a care context. The patient links care contexts to their ABHA, either by discovering them from their PHR app with an OTP, or by the hospital linking them. When a doctor or app requests records, the patient approves a consent that specifies which records, which types and which date range may be shared. The hospital’s software then builds the records in HL7 FHIR R4 format using India’s ABDM profiles, encrypts them and sends them through the exchange.
A well-built integration enforces the consent exactly: only the approved care contexts, record types and dates are ever sent.
What a hospital needs to go live
- Register the facility in the Health Facility Registry.
- Register doctors in the Health Professional Registry.
- Use ABDM-integrated software that has completed the milestones you need.
- Link the facility as a Health Information Provider so records can be shared.
- Train registration staff to create and verify ABHA without slowing the queue. See ABHA at the registration counter.
Incentives: the Digital Health Incentive Scheme
NHA’s Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS) offers incentives to eligible hospitals, labs and digital health solution providers for digital health records linked to ABHA. Facilities must be registered in HFR and meet the scheme’s criteria. Terms are set and updated by NHA, so check the current rules on the official ABDM website.
How Swastik HMS handles ABDM
Swastik HMS is ABDM-integrated for M1 and M2. Registration staff create ABHA with Aadhaar OTP, biometrics or driving licence, and patients can register with Scan & Share. Care contexts are created automatically when an OPD visit, IPD admission, lab report or radiology report is saved, and records are shared as encrypted FHIR bundles within the patient’s consent. HMS also integrates with HPR and HFR. If you need HIU (M3) capability, or ABDM added to software you already run, our development team can build it.
Key takeaways
- ABHA is the patient’s health ID; HFR and HPR register facilities and doctors.
- M1 = ABHA, M2 = sharing your records (HIP), M3 = fetching others’ records (HIU).
- Records are shared only with patient consent, as encrypted FHIR data.
- Ask vendors exactly which milestones they have integrated.
Planning ABDM for your hospital? Talk to our team or WhatsApp +91 76545 31678.