ABDM / ABHA
Link a patient's ABHA, make visits discoverable as care contexts, and share FHIR R4 health records under India's consent-first digital health framework.
DoctSoft integrates with ABDM (the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission), India's national digital health ecosystem. ABDM lets a patient carry a portable health identity and grant consent-based access to their records across providers. Their identity within ABDM is the ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account).
Linking a patient's ABHA
A patient's ABHA can be linked to their DoctSoft record. Once linked, the patient's clinical activity at your hospital can be associated with their national health identity, subject to consent.
Care contexts
In ABDM terms, a visit is a care context: a discoverable unit of care tied to the patient's ABHA. In DoctSoft, when a consultation is finalised, its care context is auto-linked, making that visit discoverable to the patient through the ABDM network without extra manual steps.
Care contexts are created automatically on finalising a consult, so your clinical workflow drives ABDM linkage rather than a separate administrative task.
Consent-first data sharing
ABDM is built around patient consent, and DoctSoft enforces it. No health data is shared until an `ABDM_DATA_SHARING` consent is in place. The consent gate sits in front of every data exchange: discovery may reveal that records exist, but the records themselves only move once the patient has consented.
Sharing is consent-gated. Without a valid ABDM_DATA_SHARING consent, DoctSoft will not release the patient's health data, regardless of who requests it.
FHIR R4 records
Health data shared over ABDM is expressed as FHIR R4 records, the same standards-based format DoctSoft uses for e-signed prescriptions, so information is portable and interoperable across the ecosystem.
Mock vs live gateway
The ABDM gateway is configurable per environment:
| Mode | When it's used | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Mock | Demos and testing | Simulates the ABDM gateway so flows can be exercised without live credentials. |
| Live | Production, once configured with credentials | Connects to the real ABDM gateway for genuine linkage and consent-based exchange. |
Link ABHA
Associate the patient's ABHA with their DoctSoft record.
Finalise consults
Each finalised consultation is auto-linked as a discoverable care context.
Obtain consent
An ABDM_DATA_SHARING consent must be granted before any health data is shared.
Share FHIR R4
With consent in place, records are exchanged as FHIR R4 through the configured gateway.
Use the mock gateway to train front-desk and clinical staff on the ABHA-linking and consent steps before switching to the live gateway in production.