The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is a national initiative aimed at establishing a digital health ecosystem by connecting patients, healthcare providers, and administrators through interoperable digital systems. Photo: abdm.gov.in
With a 92% online Out-Patient Department (OPD) registration rate at government health facilities, Bihar has recorded the highest number of Quick Response (QR) code scans for patient services under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), emerging as the leading State in the country for the ‘scan and share’ facility.
According to the ABDM dashboard maintained by the National Health Authority (NHA), the total number of OPD registrations under the Mission since its inception in 2021 stands at 11.38 crore. Of these, Bihar accounts for 2.94 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 2.25 crore and Andhra Pradesh at 1.70 crore.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is a national initiative aimed at establishing a digital health ecosystem by connecting patients, healthcare providers, and administrators through interoperable digital systems.
For patients, the Mission translates into reduced waiting times and digitised documentation, encompassing basic vitals, doctors’ prescriptions, diagnostic recommendations and results, and medicine dispensation.
“This also eliminates the need to store bulky hospital paperwork. The entire patient record is available at the click of a button,” Rajesh Kumar, Administrative Officer, State Health Society, Bihar, said.
Senior State health officials noted that Bihar’s robust digital health framework has been supported through its Mukhyamantri Digital Health Yojana (MMDHY) and the Bihar Health Application Visionary Yojana for All (BHAVYA). These initiatives integrate with the national ABDM to generate unique patient health IDs, electronic health records, and to streamline healthcare processes such as OPD registration, e-prescriptions, and medicine dispensation.
“Over 14.6 lakh ABHA numbers have been created in Nalanda district. With the Personal Health Records application, patients can use the Scan-and-Share feature as soon as they come into the health facility and register themselves. They will be given a token and all the health interventions then-on are recorded digitally. This can be repeated in every visit, creating a medical history that can be accessed with permission from the patient,” Jitendra Kumar Singh, Civil Surgeon, Community Health Centre (CHC), Silao, Nalanda, said.
He added that the rise in users across the State is attributed to dedicated professionals stationed at facility entry points who assist patients in logging in with their unique ABHA ID and registering under the Mission. “There is a very deliberate and aggressive push towards ensuring that we can digitise healthcare facilities and bring patients under the Mission,” he said.
Ganesh Kumar (20), a patient at CHC Silao, said that digitisation of his medical records has simplified communication with healthcare providers. “Everything is now available on my phone and the healthcare professionals know what treatment I have been on, what tests have been done, and which medicines I have taken. Things are simpler and easier,” he said. Ganesh has been using the feature for the past year and has a record of four health interventions at the CHC.
While various healthcare centres across India continue to use their own digital systems, the ABDM aims to create an open, interoperable ecosystem. According to the Central government, such an ecosystem will enable efficient creation, storage, access, and sharing of health records, thereby aiding clinical decision-making and contributing to public health and research.
Published – June 09, 2025 08:05 pm IST