ABHA Health ID — Complete Enrollment Guide for Patients & Clinic Staff in India 2026

What Is the ABHA Health ID?

The ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) Health ID is a 14-digit unique health identifier issued by the National Health Authority (NHA) under India's Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). It works as a digital identity for your healthcare — linking health records from every clinic, hospital, lab, and pharmacy you visit into a single, patient-controlled health account.

Think of it as a UPI ID for your health. Just as a UPI ID enables money transfers between any two banks, an ABHA ID enables health record sharing between any two ABDM-registered healthcare facilities — with your explicit consent and complete control over who sees what.

What the ABHA Health ID Stores

The ABHA ID itself does not store your health records. It is an identifier — like a key — that can be used to link records stored at individual health facilities. When a clinic treats you and is ABDM-registered as a Health Information Provider (HIP), it generates:

• OPD Consultation Records: FHIR R4-formatted summaries of your consultation including diagnosis (ICD-10/SNOMED CT codes), vitals (LOINC-coded), and medications (RxNorm)
• Prescriptions: Digital e-prescriptions with drug names, dosages, and instructions
• Diagnostic Reports: Lab test results with LOINC-coded test names, values, and reference ranges
• Discharge Summaries: For inpatient hospital stays — diagnosis, procedures, medications, follow-up plan
• Immunization Records: Vaccines administered with CVX codes and dates

These records remain stored at the originating facility (clinic, hospital, or lab) — not on a central government server. The ABHA ID acts as the thread that links them all together so any future provider you consent to can retrieve them.

How to Create Your ABHA Health ID

Method 1: Aadhaar OTP (Fastest — Recommended)

1. Visit abdm.gov.in or download the ABHA app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store
2. Select "Create ABHA Number" and choose "Aadhaar"
3. Enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number
4. An OTP is sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number — enter it to verify
5. Your 14-digit ABHA number is created instantly. You can also create an ABHA address (like yourname@abdm) for easier sharing at clinics
6. Download your ABHA card — a digital health card showing your ABHA number, name, date of birth, and a scannable QR code

Method 2: Driving Licence

1. On the ABHA app, select "Create ABHA Number" and choose "Driving Licence"
2. Enter your driving licence number and date of birth
3. Verify via the OTP sent to your registered mobile number
4. Your ABHA ID is created — note that Driving Licence-based ABHA IDs are not Aadhaar-verified and have limited functionality for some government scheme integrations

Method 3: At Your Clinic During a Visit

Most ABDM-registered clinics and hospitals — including all AnueraTech-hosted facilities — can create your ABHA ID at the registration desk during your visit:

1. Tell the registration staff you want to enroll in ABHA
2. Provide your Aadhaar number to the staff member
3. An OTP is sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile — share it with the staff member
4. Your ABHA ID is created and immediately linked to your patient record at that clinic
5. All future records from that clinic will automatically be linked to your ABHA account

Linking ABHA to Your Existing Clinic Records

If you have visited a clinic before creating your ABHA ID, you can retroactively link your past records. At ABDM-registered facilities using AnueraTech's OpenEMR or Vishu HMS, the registration staff can:

1. Search your existing patient record by name, phone number, or date of birth
2. Initiate ABHA ID linking — enter your ABHA number or scan your ABHA QR code
3. Verify identity via OTP
4. Your historical records at that clinic are now linked and visible to any future provider you consent to

How Consent Works — Who Can See Your Records

Privacy is the foundation of ABDM. Your health records are never shared automatically — every access requires your explicit, time-limited consent. Here is how the consent process works:

1. A doctor wants to see your records — for example, a specialist you are seeing for the first time. They send a consent request through their clinic's HMS specifying: what records they want (all records, or just records from the past 6 months, or only lab reports), the purpose (treatment), and the time window for access
2. You receive a notification on your ABHA app, Eka Care, or another PHR app linked to your ABHA ID
3. You review and approve (or decline) — you see exactly who is asking, what they want, and why before you approve
4. On approval — the doctor receives your FHIR R4 health records within seconds. No paper files, no "I forgot my reports at home"
5. Consent is time-limited — access expires at the end of the specified window. The doctor cannot access records after the consent expires without requesting again
6. You can revoke any consent at any time from your ABHA app — the doctor loses access immediately

ABHA Benefits: For Patients

For Clinic Staff: How to Enroll Patients in ABHA

If your clinic uses AnueraTech's OpenEMR or Vishu HMS, the ABHA enrollment workflow is integrated into the registration module:

1. Open the patient registration screen and enter the patient's demographic details
2. Click "Enroll in ABHA" — a dialog opens requesting the patient's Aadhaar number
3. Enter the Aadhaar number and click "Send OTP" — the patient receives an OTP on their registered mobile
4. The patient shares the OTP verbally — enter it in the system and click "Verify"
5. The patient's ABHA ID is created (or their existing ABHA is linked) and saved to their patient record
6. From this point, all clinical records created during the patient's visits are automatically formatted as FHIR R4 bundles and made available through the ABDM gateway when the patient provides consent