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ABDM Connect

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is India’s national digital health infrastructure. It creates a shared ecosystem where patients, hospitals, labs, insurers, and health apps can exchange health data securely, with patient consent driving every transaction. EKA’s ABDM Connect is a plug-and-play API and SDK suite that handles the ABDM gateway complexity so you don’t have to.

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The ABDM Ecosystem

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Core Registries

ABDM is built on four registries. Every entity gets a unique, verifiable identity through one of these.

ABHA

Ayushman Bharat Health AccountThe patient’s health identity. Can be a 14-digit ABHA Number (KYC-verified via Aadhaar) or an ABHA Address like nisha@abdm. All health transactions in ABDM are anchored to this.

HPR

Healthcare Professionals RegistryA national registry of licensed healthcare professionals. Each doctor, nurse, or practitioner gets a unique HPR ID for verified digital identity.

HFR

Health Facility RegistryA national registry of health facilities, both government and private. Each facility gets a unique HFR ID used for record linking and patient discovery.

Consent Manager

Consent ManagerManages the consent flow between HIPs (who hold data) and HIUs (who want access). The ABDM Gateway itself acts as the Consent Manager.

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Roles in the Ecosystem

There are two roles in ABDM. A product can play both.

HIP

Health Information ProviderHospitals, labs, clinics, and pharmacies that generate and hold patient health records. After a visit or test, a HIP links the records to the patient’s ABHA address so they’re discoverable and shareable.Examples: hospital HMS, diagnostic lab system, pharmacy software

HIU

Health Information UserAny entity that requests access to a patient’s health records with the patient’s consent. After consent is granted, the HIU pulls FHIR records from the relevant HIPs.Examples: insurance company, specialist referral system, wellness platform

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ABDM Milestones

ABDM defines four certification milestones for HMIS/LMIS integrations. EKA’s ABDM Connect covers all four.
1

M1 — ABHA Identity

Required by all integrations: HIP, HIU, and PHR apps.Every patient needs an ABHA identity before any health data can be linked or shared.
  • Create an ABHA Number (14-digit, KYC-verified via Aadhaar or mobile OTP)
  • Create an ABHA Address like nisha@abdm
  • Login and session management
  • Profile viewing, updates, and deletion
  • KYC verification
  • ABHA card and QR code generation
  • Verify a patient’s ABHA at facility check-in via QR scan (the HIP side of Scan & Share)
ABHA Creation & Login APIs →
2

M2 — Care Context Linking & Data Sharing

Required by HIPs: hospitals, labs, clinics, pharmacies.Health records are grouped into care contexts (one per visit, test, or document). M2 is about linking these to a patient’s ABHA address and serving them when an HIU requests them.
  • HIP pushes records to a patient’s ABHA address after each visit or test
  • Patients can discover and pull unlinked records from any ABDM-connected facility
  • List all linked providers and care contexts for an ABHA address
  • Serve FHIR data when an HIU requests it, or store records on EKA and let us handle it automatically
Care Context APIs →
3

M3 — Consent Management & Data Fetching

Required by HIUs: any entity accessing patient records.Patients must explicitly consent before an HIU can access their records. M3 covers the full consent lifecycle and the data fetch that follows.
  • Patients receive and act on consent requests from HIUs
  • Approve, deny, or revoke consent at any time
  • Auto-approval policies for recurring access
  • HIU fetches encrypted FHIR data from HIPs after consent
  • Encryption key management for secure transfer
Consent APIs →
4

M4 — HPR & HFR Registration

Required by all HMIS/LMIS integrations.Every healthcare professional and facility must be registered in ABDM’s national registries before they can participate in digital health transactions. M4 covers creating HPR IDs for doctors and nurses, and onboarding health facilities with HFR IDs.
  • Create HPR ID for healthcare professionals via Aadhaar-based verification
  • Check if an HPR ID already exists and get system-suggested IDs
  • Search, onboard, and link health facilities (HFR) to the ABDM network
  • Software linkage to connect facilities with the EKA Bridge for data exchange
HPR & HFR APIs →

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PHR App

PHR (Personal Health Record) App is a separate ABDM integration track, distinct from the HMIS milestones above. A PHR app is the patient-facing side of the ABDM ecosystem: patients create their ABHA, view records from every provider they’ve visited, manage consent, and share their profile at health facilities. A PHR app typically acts as both a HIP (storing user-uploaded records) and a HIU (fetching records from other providers on the patient’s behalf). PHR app integration covers:
  • ABHA address creation and patient login
  • Viewing all linked care contexts and health records
  • Managing incoming consent requests
  • Scan & Share — patient scans a QR at a health facility to share their ABHA profile for registration
  • Health locker — patient-controlled storage for self-uploaded documents
  • Subscription notifications — get notified when a provider links new records
Scan & Share APIs →

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What Can You Build

Hospital / Clinic Product (HMS)

If you run a hospital or clinic system, you need to be a HIP. After every visit or test, link the patient’s records to their ABHA address. When a patient later grants consent to another entity (like an insurer), your system serves those records automatically.

Consumer Health App (PHR)

If you’re building a patient-facing app, you need the PHR track on top of the milestones. Patients can aggregate their entire health history from every facility they’ve ever visited, manage consent, and check in at facilities by scanning a QR code.

Insurance / Analytics Platform (HIU)

If you need to access a patient’s health records from any ABDM-connected provider, you need to be an HIU. You request consent from the patient, and once granted, pull their FHIR records directly.

Integrated Health Platform

Large hospital networks and health platforms often need to be HIP, HIU, and PHR at once. Your HMS links records (HIP), doctors can pull history from outside (HIU), and patients have a portal to manage everything (PHR).

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Next Steps

Onboarding & Credentials

Get your credentials and onboard into ABDM through EKA Connect.

M1: ABHA Creation & Login

Start here: ABHA creation, login, and profile management.

M2: Care Context APIs

Link health records to ABHA addresses and enable data sharing.

M3: Consent APIs

Implement consent management and controlled data access.

M4: HPR & HFR APIs

Register healthcare professionals and onboard health facilities.