Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): Transforming India’s Healthcare Landscape

India's healthcare system has long been fragmented, making continuity of service difficult. A patient’s history often resides in paper files, local hospital systems, or disconnected digital applications. When patients move to a new city or consult multiple providers, their data rarely follows them, leading to repeated tests, incomplete diagnoses, higher costs, and preventable clinical risks.

For decades, India’s healthcare system has operated in silos, making it difficult to ensure continuity of care. A patient’s medical records were often scattered across paper files, hospital databases, or standalone digital apps.

The outcome of this fragmentation often results in repeated diagnostic tests, partial clinical insights, avoidable expenses, and, in some cases, risks to patient safety.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought both clarity and contrast to India’s digital health landscape. National platforms such as CoWIN and Aarogya Setu showed how technology could be deployed at scale to manage a public health crisis.

In light of this, the Indian government introduced the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in 2021.

In this article, we explore how ABDM addresses these structural challenges by establishing rules, standards, and digital rails that enable health information to move securely and seamlessly, with patient consent at the core.

About Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is India’s national digital health initiative designed to enable universal health coverage through secure, consent-based exchange of health information. ABDM employs a federated architecture, keeping data with original custodians while making it discoverable and shareable through standardized protocols.

Aligned with the broader Ayushman Bharat vision and national health policy goals, ABDM emphasizes citizen-centricity, placing individuals at the center of the digital health ecosystem. Through unique digital health identifiers, verified registries of healthcare professionals and facilities, interoperable health information exchanges, and robust consent management systems, ABDM aims to transform how healthcare is accessed, delivered, and governed in India

Core Objectives of ABDM

• Establish a national digital health ecosystem for seamless and secure exchange of health information.
• Support universal health coverage (UHC) by enhancing access, affordability, and quality of care through digital technologies.
• Enable patient-centric care, allowing individuals to control what data is shared, with whom, and for how long.
• Reduce redundancy in diagnostics and administrative processes.
• Facilitate evidence-based policymaking through standardized, real-time data streams.

Key Components of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

1. Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA)

The Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) is a 14-digit unique digital health ID that allows individuals to create and manage longitudinal health records across multiple healthcare providers. Under ABDM, ABHA enables interoperability among hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and insurers while ensuring that individuals retain control over their health data through a consent-based framework.

2. ABHA Application (Personal Health Record Platform)

The ABHA mobile application, developed under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, functions as a Personal Health Record (PHR) system. It allows individuals to securely store, view, and manage their health records in one place.

Key capabilities include:

• Creation of an ABHA address that serves as a digital identity for health data exchange
• Discovery of health records from ABDM-linked hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and telemedicine platforms
• Linking records from different facilities into a unified health profile
• Secure viewing and downloading of health records at any time
• Consent management that allows users to approve, restrict, or revoke access to their data

3. Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR)

The Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) is a national digital repository of verified healthcare professionals across modern and traditional systems of medicine, including allopathy, dentistry, AYUSH systems, and homoeopathy.

Under ABDM, HPR provides healthcare professionals with a unique digital identity, improving visibility, enabling interoperable digital workflows, and supporting telemedicine and digitally enabled care.

4. Health Facility Registry (HFR)

The Health Facility Registry (HFR) is a verified national database of public and private healthcare facilities across India. It improves facility discoverability, supports digital workflows, simplifies empanelment and licensing, and enables paperless, interoperable healthcare delivery under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

5. Unified Health Interface (UHI)

The Unified Health Interface (UHI) is designed as an open, interoperable network, similar to UPI in payments, that connects patients, providers, and digital health applications. Under ABDM, UHI enables seamless discovery, booking, delivery, and payment of health services across multiple platforms, with patient consent as the central principle.

Current Status & Adoption

Since its launch, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has achieved significant milestones in building India’s national digital health ecosystem. As of January 2026, over 84.79 crore ABHA IDs have been created, with 82.69 crore health records linked, reflecting strong citizen adoption and growing utilization of digital health records.

State-level adoption demonstrates notable progress. Uttar Pradesh leads with more than 14.3 crore ABHA registrations, while Bihar has pioneered digital OPD registrations through the Scan & Share feature, illustrating effective on-ground implementation of the mission.

Initiatives such as the “scan and pay” facility at GIMS Greater Noida, which integrates ABHA with digital payments and medical records, highlight ABDM’s ability to unify clinical and financial workflows.

The HPR and HFR have also expanded considerably. Leading institutions like AIIMS Delhi have registered their entire workforce under HPR, while major government hospitals are already listed in the HFR, with collaborations such as the NHA–C-DAC initiative to launch e-Sushrut@Clinic are helping smaller clinics and providers integrate into the digital ecosystem.

Today, the ABDM ecosystem encompasses 4.51 lakh registered health facilities and 7.61 lakh healthcare professionals, strengthening interoperability and trust across public and private healthcare delivery. Simultaneously, citizen engagement through the ABHA mobile application and the participation of nearly 2,000 active digital health integrators demonstrate the expanding reach and adoption of digital health services.

Challenges & Future Directions

Despite its transformative potential, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) faces several implementation challenges:

1. Technical and Infrastructure Barriers

Differences in digital infrastructure across states and healthcare facilities lead to uneven adoption and connectivity issues, limiting the mission’s reach.

2. Adoption by Healthcare Providers

Smaller hospitals, clinics, and laboratories may encounter difficulties due to integration costs, training requirements, and workflow adjustments needed to align with ABDM standards.

3. Data Privacy and Security

As sensitive health data flows across multiple platforms, maintaining robust privacy safeguards and ensuring secure data handling remain critical priorities.

4. Inter-State Disparities

Registry coverage and adoption vary significantly between states, highlighting the need for targeted capacity building, support, and awareness campaigns.

Moving forward, efforts should focus on scaling digital infrastructure, enhancing usability for providers and citizens, and strengthening governance frameworks to fully realize ABDM’s potential.

Conclusion

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission represents a foundational reform in India’s healthcare system, leveraging digital technologies to create a seamless, interoperable, and citizen-centric health ecosystem. Through unique health identifiers, standardized data exchange, and a digital public goods architecture, ABDM aims to improve continuity of care, reduce inefficiencies, and empower individuals with greater control over their health information.

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