Building India’s Digital Health Infrastructure

 

1. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) was launched in September 2021 to create an integrated, citizen-centric digital health ecosystem in India.

2. As of May 2026, more than 104 crore digital health records have been linked to over 93 crore Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) accounts.

3. ABHA is a unique 14-digit health identifier that securely links an individual’s digital health records across ABDM-enabled healthcare facilities.

4. ABDM enables citizens to securely access, share, and port their health records across the country through a consent-based digital framework.

5. The Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) is a national digital registry of verified healthcare professionals, including doctors and AYUSH practitioners.

6. The Health Facility Registry (HFR) is a national repository of public and private hospitals, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities.

7. The Unified Health Interface (UHI) is an open digital network that enables services such as doctor consultations, appointment booking, ambulance booking, blood bank discovery, and Jan Aushadhi Kendra search.

8. Aarogya Setu 2.0 was launched on 29 June 2026 as a citizen-facing digital health application under ABDM.

9. Aarogya Setu 2.0 provides services such as ABHA creation, OCR-based Smart Reports, AI-driven health insights, teleconsultations, wearable device integration, and health record management.

10. The Scan and Share service, launched in 2022 under ABDM, reduced outpatient registration waiting time from nearly one hour to just 2–5 minutes.

11. As of 18 June 2026, over 23.21 crore ABHA-linked digital queue tokens had been generated through the Scan and Share service.

12. Under the Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS), hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and Digital Solution Companies receive financial incentives for creating interoperable digital health records.

13. eSushrut@Clinic, launched by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), is a lightweight Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) designed for small clinics.

14. The National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) is a digital platform that streamlines health insurance claim processing by connecting patients, hospitals, insurers, and regulators.

15. In February 2026, the Government launched Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for India (SAHI) and Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI (BODH) to promote secure, ethical, and privacy-preserving Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare.

 

 

Must Know Terms :

1. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): ABDM was launched in September 2021 to create an integrated digital health ecosystem in India. It connects patients, doctors, hospitals, insurers, and health records through a unified digital network.

 

2. Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA): ABHA is a 14-digit unique health identifier. It links a person’s digital health records across ABDM-enabled hospitals, labs, insurers, and health programmes with consent.

 

3. Unified Health Interface (UHI): UHI is an open digital network for healthcare services. It allows users to discover doctors, book consultations, find blood banks, search Jan Aushadhi Kendras, and access ambulance services.

 

4. National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX): NHCX is a digital platform for health insurance claims. It connects patients, hospitals, insurers, regulators, and other stakeholders to make claim processing faster and more transparent.

 

5. Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS): DHIS provides financial incentives to hospitals, labs, pharmacies, and digital solution companies for creating interoperable digital health records under ABDM.

 

6.Aarogya Setu 2.0: Aarogya Setu 2.0 was launched on 29 June 2026 as a citizen-facing digital health app under ABDM. It supports ABHA creation, health record management, AI-driven health insights, teleconsultations, and wearable-device integration.

 

MCQ :

1. With reference to the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), consider the following statements:

1. It was launched in September 2021.
2. It aims to create a citizen-centric digital health ecosystem.
3. It is implemented by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

2. Consider the following features of the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA):

1. It is a 14-digit unique health identifier.
2. It links an individual’s digital health records.
3. It functions only within government hospitals.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

3. Which one of the following best describes the primary objective of ABHA?

A. Providing free health insurance
B. Creating a digital identity for accessing and sharing health records
C. Registering only healthcare professionals
D. Managing vaccine procurement

4. Match List-I with List-II:

List-I List-II

A. HPR 1. Health facilities registry
B. HFR 2. Healthcare professionals registry
C. UHI 3. Open digital health network
D. ABHA 4. Unique health identifier

Codes:

A. A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4
B. A-1, B-2, C-4, D-3
C. A-2, B-3, C-1, D-4
D. A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4

5. Assertion (A): ABDM follows a consent-based framework for sharing health records.

Reason (R): Patients can revoke access to their health records after granting consent.

A. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
B. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
C. A is true, but R is false.
D. A is false, but R is true.

6. Which of the following services are available through the Unified Health Interface (UHI)?

1. Doctor consultation
2. Ambulance booking
3. Blood bank discovery
4. Jan Aushadhi Kendra discovery

Select the correct answer using the code below:

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2, 3 and 4 only
C. 1, 3 and 4 only
D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

7. Aarogya Setu 2.0 was launched:

A. On 15 August 2025
B. On 26 January 2026
C. On 29 June 2026
D. On 2 October 2026

8. Which of the following features are available in Aarogya Setu 2.0?

1. OCR-based Smart Reports
2. AI-driven health insights
3. Teleconsultation
4. Wearable device integration

Select the correct answer using the code below:

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 3 and 4 only
C. 1, 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

9. The Scan and Share service launched under ABDM primarily aims to:

A. Generate digital prescriptions
B. Reduce outpatient registration waiting time
C. Digitise insurance claims
D. Register healthcare professionals

10. Match List-I with List-II:

List-I List-II

A. DHIS 1. Incentives for digitisation
B. NHCX 2. Health insurance claims platform
C. eSushrut@Clinic 3. Lightweight HMIS
D. C-DAC 4. Developed eSushrut@Clinic

Codes:

A. A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
B. A-2, B-1, C-4, D-3
C. A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4
D. A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4

11. eSushrut@Clinic has been developed primarily for:

A. AI-based disease surveillance
B. Small clinics for digitising patient records
C. Medical colleges only
D. Telemedicine services only

12. Consider the following statements regarding the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX):

1. It digitises health insurance claim processing.
2. It connects hospitals, insurers, patients, and regulators.
3. It is meant exclusively for Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

13. Assertion (A): ABDM adopts a privacy-by-design approach.

Reason (R): Patient health records are stored centrally by the Government of India on a single national server.

A. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
B. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
C. A is true, but R is false.
D. A is false, but R is true.

14. Which of the following initiatives were launched in February 2026 to promote Artificial Intelligence in healthcare?

1. SAHI
2. BODH
3. NHCX

Select the correct answer using the code below:

A. 1 only
B. 1 and 2 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

15. With reference to the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), consider the following statements:

1. It enables interoperability among healthcare providers.
2. It promotes paperless health records.
3. It supports Artificial Intelligence-based healthcare through anonymised health data.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3