It has been directed by the National Medical Commission (NMC) to all medical colleges to ensure that patients seeking registration at their affiliated hospitals possess an Ayushman Bharat Health Account or Abha ID.
Implementation of Abha ID Mandate by the National Medical Commission
As per a public notice dated 4 June, it has been asked by the commission that all the patients visiting for outpatient (OPD), inpatient (IPD), or emergency services must have registration completed with an Abha ID, in addition to the hospital’s registration number.
A 14 digit Abha number, serves as an unique identifier within the digital healthcare ecosystem, enabling the storage of a patient’s health records in a centralized manner.
It was during the NMC’s 14th meeting held on May 1, that the decision to mandated Abha IDs was made.
NMC laid emphasis on the importance of patient authentication for various regulatory decisions affecting medical colleges, but also outlined that those patients who do not have one, should not be kept derived from the treatments.
However, same shall be mandated beginning from the academic year 2025-26, wherein only those patients and related clinical material authenticated with Abha IDs would be considered.
Citing the reliability of data obtained through the Health Management Information System (HMIS) for undergraduate and postgraduate training purposes, NMC had notified the medical colleges to encourage their patient to register through the unique Abha ID.
Creating an Abha ID
A straightforward process facilitated by the Centre’s dedicated website, Abha ID can be created online by using either one’s Aadhaar card or driving license.
After providing Aadhar number, one has to link their mobile number with Aadhaar for OTP authentication.
Once Aadhaar authentication is done, users are asked to fill in the communication details as well as create an Abha address, which would serve as a unique identifier enabling digital health record access. The Abha address is structured as ‘yourname@consent manager’, facilitating health data exchange on the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) network.
In order to enable seamless health data sharing, the users have been encouraged to link their Abha number with an ABDM Abha address.
In addition to this, what ensures one’s control over participation is the fact that any time one has an autonomy to request permanent deletion or temporary deactivation of their Abha number.
