The National Medical Commission (NMC) has instructed all medical colleges to make sure that patients visiting for outpatient, inpatient, or emergency services have an ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) ID before they can be registered.
During the Commission’s 14th meeting on May 1, it was decided that all medical colleges must ensure that patients have an ABHA ID. Patients must be registered with both the ABHA ID and the hospital’s registration number for outpatient and inpatient services. This step is crucial for verifying patients and other clinical material in hospitals, which affects decisions related to increasing seats in undergraduate or postgraduate programs, establishing new colleges, and renewing permissions to admit students annually.
Creating an ABHA ID is a simple process that can be easily done with an Aadhaar Card, which is already widely distributed. However, no patient should be refused treatment if they do not have an ABHA ID. Starting from the assessment for the academic year 2025-26, only patients and clinical material authenticated with ABHA IDs will be considered for decisions.
This new requirement aims to streamline patient registration and ensure accurate data collection for future decision-making processes within medical colleges.
