Two Identifiers, One Health Account

Every ABHA user actually has two identifiers, and they do different jobs:

  • ABHA Number — a permanent 14-digit number (like 12-3456-7890-1234) issued by the National Health Authority. Think of it as the Aadhaar of healthcare: a unique, lifelong identity.
  • ABHA Address — a human-readable username like ramesh.kumar@abdm (also called a PHR address). This is what you actually share when a hospital wants to send records to your account or request access to them.

An Easy Analogy

Your ABHA number is like your bank account number; your ABHA address is like your UPI ID. The account number identifies you permanently in the system; the UPI ID is the convenient handle you give out for transactions. One ABHA number can even have multiple ABHA addresses linked to it, just as one bank account can sit behind multiple UPI IDs.

Side-by-Side Comparison

  • Format: 14 digits vs username@abdm
  • Purpose: permanent identity vs consent & data-sharing handle
  • Created by: NHA at registration vs chosen by the user (self-declared)
  • Used when: registering at a facility, recovering your account vs linking records, granting consent, Scan & Share

What This Means for Patients

You only need to remember your ABHA address for daily use — share it at any ABDM hospital and your records follow you. Keep your ABHA number safely recorded (it is on your downloadable ABHA card) for recovery and verification.

What This Means for Hospitals and Developers

Your software must handle both: create/verify the ABHA number during registration (Milestone 1), and use the ABHA address for care context linking and consent requests (Milestones 2 and 3). Medi4u's ABHA ID Creation API covers number generation, verification, and address linking in one integration — and the HIP & HIU integration service handles the consent side.

Deeper reading: how ABHA consent management works and HIP & HIU explained.