What Is ABDM (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission)?
ABDM is India's national digital health infrastructure program, run by the National Health Authority, that gives every patient a portable digital health ID and lets hospitals, labs, and insurers exchange records over a common, consent-based standard instead of proprietary formats. For hospital software, ABDM compliance is measured in milestones — M1 (creating/verifying a patient's ABHA ID), M2 (issuing records in a shareable FHIR format), M3 (consent-based record exchange), and M4 (cashless claims via NHCX).
ABDM vs ABHA in One Line
ABDM is the overall system and set of standards; ABHA is the individual patient's ID within that system. A hospital becomes "ABDM compliant"; a patient "has an ABHA."