ABDM milestones M1, M2 and M3: what they mean for your hospital
Facts checked on 29 October 2026. General information, not legal or financial advice.
In short
ABDM milestones show how far your hospital software is connected to India's national digital health network. M1 lets you create and verify a patient's ABHA health ID. M2 lets you share your records with other providers when the patient consents. M3 lets you fetch a patient's records from other providers with their consent.
The three milestones
| Milestone | What your hospital can do | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| M1: ABHA | Create and verify a patient's ABHA health ID, and register patients by scanning their ABHA QR code (Scan and Share) | Reception |
| M2: Share records | Link visits, reports and prescriptions to the patient's ABHA and share them, encrypted, when the patient consents | Records leave your hospital with consent |
| M3: Fetch records | Request consent and pull the patient's records from other hospitals and labs into your system | Doctors see outside history |
How software gets certified
A software company builds the integration in ABDM's sandbox, passes the National Health Authority's functional testing and a WASA security audit, and gives a demo. It then receives production credentials.
According to NHA guidance reported by integrators, going live requires at least two milestones, so most hospital systems complete M1 and M2 first. Claims processing through the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) is a separate track.
Why it matters to you
- Patients who already have an ABHA number can register by scanning a QR code, which shortens reception queues.
- Government digital health incentives are paid for records linked to ABHA (see our DHIS guide).
- NABH certification of hospital software requires a valid ABDM M3 certificate (see our NABH guide).
Questions to ask any software vendor
- 1.Which milestones are live in production today, not just in the sandbox?
- 2.Can I see Scan and Share working at a reception desk?
- 3.Can you show me the certificate or the NHA approval?
Ask us too. Book a call and we'll answer each one for NexEagle.
