The Scan and Share initiative under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is a digital healthcare service designed to make hospital OPD registration faster and more convenient for patients.
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Instead of standing in a long queue and manually providing registration details at a hospital counter, patients can use an ABDM-enabled Personal Health Record (PHR) application to scan a QR code displayed at the hospital. Their relevant demographic information can then be shared with the healthcare facility, helping generate an OPD registration token.
The initiative is implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA) as part of India’s broader effort to build a connected and interoperable digital health ecosystem. According to the official ABDM FAQ, Scan and Share is intended to reduce waiting time during registration and can support OPD token generation and record linking.
For hospitals, Scan and Share is more than just a QR-code-based registration feature. It demonstrates how ABDM interoperability can connect patients, healthcare facilities, PHR applications and hospital information systems to create a more digital-first patient journey.
What Is Scan and Share Under ABDM?
Scan and Share is an ABDM-enabled digital OPD registration service that allows patients to scan a hospital’s QR code and share their profile information digitally for faster registration.
The QR code is displayed at the registration or OPD area of a participating healthcare facility. The patient scans it using an ABDM-enabled PHR application, such as the ABHA application or another compatible application.
Depending on the implementation, the patient’s relevant demographic information can include:
- Name
- Gender
- Mobile number
- Date of birth
- ABHA Address
- ABHA Number, if linked
The information is then made available to the healthcare facility for registration and token generation. Additional information required by the hospital may still need to be provided separately.
The fundamental objective is simple:
Scan the QR code → Share your profile → Receive an OPD token → Complete registration faster.
Why Was Scan and Share Introduced?
Traditional hospital OPD registration can involve several manual steps.
A patient may have to:
- Find the registration counter.
- Stand in a queue.
- Provide personal details.
- Wait while staff enter the information into the hospital system.
- Receive a registration number or OPD slip.
- Proceed toward the consultation area.
For high-volume government hospitals and large healthcare facilities, these processes can result in significant waiting times.
Scan and Share attempts to digitize the registration component of this journey.
The National Health Authority introduced the service as a way to provide quick and seamless OPD registration using a hospital-specific QR code and an ABDM-enabled PHR application. A Government of India parliamentary response also described the service as a mechanism for sharing demographic information through an ABHA profile and receiving a token for obtaining the OPD slip.
How Does ABDM Scan and Share Work?
The Scan and Share journey can be understood in a few simple steps.
Step 1: Visit an ABDM-enabled healthcare facility
The patient visits a hospital, clinic or other participating healthcare facility that supports Scan and Share.
The facility displays a dedicated QR code in the registration or OPD area.
ABDM states that hospitals using an ABDM-compliant HMIS can use Scan and Share.
Step 2: Open an ABDM-enabled PHR application
The patient uses a compatible Personal Health Record application.
The ABHA application is one option, while other ABDM-enabled PHR applications may also support the functionality. ABDM notes that citizens can choose from different ABDM-enabled PHR applications rather than being restricted to a single application.
Step 3: Scan the hospital QR code
The patient scans the QR code displayed at the registration counter.
This QR code identifies the participating healthcare facility and initiates the Scan and Share workflow.
Step 4: Share profile information
The patient’s relevant profile information is shared with the healthcare facility through the ABDM-enabled workflow.
According to the NHA, information can include the patient’s name, gender, mobile number, date of birth, ABHA Address and ABHA Number when linked.
Step 5: Hospital generates an OPD token
The hospital receives the required information and processes the registration.
A token number can then be generated for the patient.
Step 6: Patient proceeds with OPD registration
The patient can use the token to complete the remaining registration process and obtain the OPD slip according to the facility’s workflow.
The objective is to minimize repetitive manual data entry and reduce the time spent waiting at registration counters.
Scan and Share Flow Under ABDM
A simplified Scan and Share architecture looks like this:
Patient
↓
ABDM-enabled PHR / ABHA App
↓
Scan Hospital QR Code
↓
Share Patient Profile
↓
ABDM Ecosystem
↓
Hospital HMIS
↓
OPD Registration / Token Generation
↓
Patient Receives OPD Token
This is important from a healthtech perspective because Scan and Share is not simply a standalone QR-code solution.
It represents an interoperable digital workflow connecting a citizen-facing application with a healthcare facility’s digital system.
What Information Is Shared Through Scan and Share?
One of the most important aspects of Scan and Share is understanding what information is actually involved.
The official ABDM FAQ states that demographic information such as the following may be shared:
| Information | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Name | Patient identification |
| Gender | Demographic information |
| Mobile number | Patient contact |
| Date of birth | Patient identification |
| ABHA Address | Digital health identity/address |
| ABHA Number | Health identity, when linked |
Additional information may be collected by the healthcare facility if required for registration.
This distinction is important.
Scan and Share is primarily designed around profile sharing and faster registration; it should not be confused with automatically sharing a patient’s complete medical history during OPD registration.
ABDM has separate workflows for health-record discovery, linking and consent-based sharing.
Is Scan and Share the Same as ABHA?
No.
This is a common misconception.
ABHA
ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) provides a digital health identity for an individual within the ABDM ecosystem.
Scan and Share
Scan and Share is a digital service/use case that uses an ABDM-enabled PHR application and hospital QR code to facilitate faster OPD registration.
In simple terms:
ABHA = digital health identity
Scan and Share = digital OPD registration workflow
ABDM describes the ABHA/PHR ecosystem as supporting functions including ABHA creation, Scan & Share for OPD registration, linking health records and sharing records with healthcare providers based on consent.
What Are the Benefits of ABDM Scan and Share?
1. Faster OPD Registration
The biggest advantage is reducing the amount of manual work involved in OPD registration.
Patients can share relevant information digitally instead of repeatedly providing the same details at the registration counter.
2. Reduced Waiting Time
Long queues are one of the most visible problems associated with high-volume OPD services.
Scan and Share is specifically designed to help reduce waiting time during registration.
3. Reduced Manual Data Entry
Hospital staff don’t need to manually enter every basic demographic detail from scratch for every Scan and Share transaction.
This can potentially improve operational efficiency.
4. Better Data Accuracy
Digital profile sharing can reduce errors associated with manually entering patient information.
A peer-reviewed overview of ABDM reported that Scan and Share shortened OPD registration time in the facilities studied and helped improve the accuracy of information captured by hospitals.
5. Better Patient Experience
Patients can move through the registration process with fewer manual steps.
For large hospitals, even small improvements in registration time can have a significant impact on patient experience.
6. Digital-First Healthcare
Scan and Share encourages healthcare facilities to move from paper-heavy and manual registration processes toward interoperable digital workflows.
7. ABDM Adoption
For healthcare organizations, Scan and Share can also serve as an entry point into broader ABDM adoption.
Once a facility has the required digital infrastructure, it can potentially participate in additional ABDM-enabled workflows.
Benefits of Scan and Share for Hospitals
The value of Scan and Share is not limited to patients.
Healthcare organizations can benefit as well.
Operational efficiency
Hospitals can streamline repetitive registration processes and potentially reduce workload at OPD counters.
Faster patient onboarding
Patient information can enter the hospital’s digital registration workflow more efficiently.
Better digital data capture
Structured digital information can be more useful than handwritten forms or manually transcribed information.
Improved patient throughput
Reducing registration friction can help hospitals manage large OPD volumes more efficiently.
ABDM readiness
Supporting Scan and Share can be part of a healthcare organization’s broader ABDM enablement strategy.
ABDM’s official Scan & Share partner page states that hospitals using an ABDM-compliant HMIS can use Scan & Share.
What Is the Role of HMIS in Scan and Share?
The Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) is an important part of the Scan and Share ecosystem.
The QR code alone does not create an end-to-end digital registration system.
The hospital needs an appropriate digital system capable of receiving and processing the information within the ABDM-enabled workflow.
A simplified architecture is:
Patient
→ PHR Application
→ ABDM Ecosystem
→ Hospital HMIS
→ Registration Module
→ OPD Token
This is particularly important for hospitals evaluating ABDM integration.
An organization may need to assess whether its existing HMIS can support the required ABDM workflows or whether an ABDM-enabled connector/integration layer is required.
Is Scan and Share Available Only Through the ABHA App?
No.
The ABHA application is one option, but ABDM-enabled PHR applications can also support Scan and Share.
ABDM explicitly states that citizens can use different ABDM-enabled PHR applications. Its partner ecosystem has included applications such as ABHA App, Driefcase, Aarogya Setu, Paytm and other technology partners.
This is consistent with ABDM’s broader approach of creating an open and interoperable digital health ecosystem, rather than requiring citizens to use only one application.
Is Scan and Share Secure?
Scan and Share is designed within the ABDM ecosystem and involves sharing profile information with the healthcare facility through the digital workflow initiated by the patient.
The NHA describes the information sharing in the context of implied consent for the registration use case.
However, healthcare organizations implementing ABDM workflows should not treat QR-code deployment alone as equivalent to complete privacy or security compliance.
Hospitals and healthtech companies should consider:
- Data minimization
- Appropriate access controls
- Secure API integration
- Authentication
- Audit trails
- Data protection requirements
- Consent and privacy requirements
- Secure storage and transmission
- Compliance with applicable laws and ABDM policies
For organizations building ABDM integrations, security should be considered at the architecture level rather than added after implementation.
Scan and Share vs Traditional OPD Registration
| Feature | Traditional Registration | ABDM Scan and Share |
|---|---|---|
| Patient data entry | Mostly manual | Digitally shared profile information |
| QR code | Usually not required | Required at participating facility |
| Patient app | Not necessarily required | ABDM-enabled PHR application |
| OPD token | Generated manually/digitally by facility | Generated through digital workflow |
| Waiting time | Can be longer | Designed to reduce registration waiting |
| Data entry workload | Higher | Can be reduced |
| ABDM integration | Not required | Required for the ABDM-enabled workflow |
| Digital health ecosystem | Limited | Connected to ABDM ecosystem |
Scan and Share vs Scan and Pay
These two ABDM initiatives are related but serve different purposes.
Scan and Share
The primary purpose is:
Faster OPD registration and profile sharing.
Scan and Pay
The purpose is:
Digital payment for pending healthcare services such as OPD, laboratory or pharmacy charges.
ABDM explains that Scan and Pay allows patients to scan a QR code, view pending payments and make digital payments for applicable services. The same QR code used for Scan and Share can also provide the Scan and Pay option.
So:
Scan and Share → Registration
Scan and Pay → Payments
These services can contribute to a more seamless digital patient journey.
What Does Scan and Share Mean for Healthcare Technology Companies?
For healthtech companies, Scan and Share is an important example of how ABDM interoperability can translate into a practical hospital workflow.
Healthcare software companies developing:
- HMIS
- Hospital ERP
- EMR
- EHR
- Clinic management software
- Patient engagement platforms
- PHR applications
- ABDM connectors
may need to understand how ABDM workflows interact with their systems.
For an HMIS provider, for example, Scan and Share can mean supporting a workflow where patient information received through the ABDM ecosystem is mapped into the hospital’s registration system.
This creates a technology chain:
ABHA/PHR → ABDM → HMIS → Patient Registration → OPD
The broader opportunity is that ABDM integration is gradually moving from a policy-level concept toward practical workflows that affect day-to-day healthcare operations.
How Can a Hospital Implement Scan and Share?
A hospital considering Scan and Share should evaluate several areas.
1. ABDM readiness
The facility should assess its participation and readiness within the ABDM ecosystem.
2. HMIS compatibility
The hospital’s HMIS should support the required digital workflows.
3. Integration architecture
The organization should establish the appropriate integration between its hospital software and ABDM ecosystem.
4. QR code deployment
The Scan and Share QR code needs to be displayed prominently in appropriate registration and OPD areas.
5. Staff training
Registration and OPD staff should understand the workflow and know how to assist patients.
6. Patient awareness
Hospitals can use signage and patient communication to explain how scanning the QR code can help speed up registration.
7. Monitoring
Hospitals should track metrics such as:
- Number of Scan and Share registrations
- Registration completion rate
- Average registration time
- Failed transactions
- Patient adoption
- Manual registration volume
This can help identify operational bottlenecks.
What Is the Difference Between Scan and Share and ABDM Integration?
This distinction is especially important for healthcare businesses.
ABDM integration is the broader technical process of connecting healthcare software and systems with the ABDM ecosystem.
Scan and Share is a specific ABDM-enabled use case focused primarily on faster OPD registration.
Therefore:
Scan and Share is a use case within the broader ABDM digital health ecosystem, while ABDM integration is the technical capability that enables healthcare systems to participate in ABDM workflows.
This distinction can be useful for hospitals, HMIS vendors and healthtech companies planning their ABDM roadmap.
Why Scan and Share Matters for India’s Digital Health Ecosystem
The significance of Scan and Share goes beyond eliminating queues.
It demonstrates how India’s digital health infrastructure can connect citizens, healthcare providers, applications and hospital systems through interoperable digital workflows.
ABDM’s official resources continue to feature Scan and Share as a citizen-facing digital health initiative, including resources for healthcare facilities and healthtech stakeholders.
The initiative also illustrates an important principle of digital health:
Technology should solve a real operational problem.
Instead of asking patients to understand complicated digital-health architecture, Scan and Share presents a simple interaction:
Scan a QR code → Share your profile → Receive a token → Complete OPD registration.
Behind that simple experience, however, there is an ecosystem involving digital identity, PHR applications, ABDM interoperability and hospital information systems.
The Future of Scan and Share Under ABDM
Scan and Share represents one of the more visible examples of ABDM being used in everyday healthcare delivery.
Its importance lies in connecting a simple patient interaction with a broader digital infrastructure.
For patients, it can mean less waiting and easier OPD registration.
For hospitals, it can mean more efficient registration and reduced manual data entry.
For healthtech companies, it demonstrates the commercial and operational importance of ABDM-ready software and interoperability.
As healthcare facilities increasingly adopt digital systems, workflows such as Scan and Share, Scan and Pay and digital health-record exchange can collectively contribute to a more connected healthcare ecosystem.
The long-term value of ABDM is therefore not just about creating digital identities or registering hospitals. It is about making different components of healthcare technology work together while keeping the patient at the center.
Conclusion
ABDM Scan and Share is a QR-code-based digital OPD registration initiative designed by the National Health Authority to make hospital registration faster and more convenient.
By scanning a participating hospital’s QR code through an ABDM-enabled PHR application, patients can share relevant demographic information and receive an OPD registration token through the facility’s digital workflow.
For patients, the major benefit is reduced registration friction and waiting time.
For hospitals, it can support faster registration, reduced manual data entry and better digital workflows.
And for healthtech companies, Scan and Share provides a practical example of how ABDM integration and healthcare interoperability can be implemented in real-world clinical operations.
The larger message is clear: ABDM is not only about digital health records—it is also about building interoperable digital workflows that make healthcare easier to access and operate.
Frequently Asked Questions About ABDM Scan and Share
What is Scan and Share in ABDM?
Scan and Share is an ABDM-enabled service that allows patients to scan a hospital QR code using a compatible PHR application and share relevant profile information to facilitate faster OPD registration.
What is the purpose of Scan and Share?
The primary purpose is to reduce waiting time and simplify the OPD registration process at participating healthcare facilities.
Does Scan and Share require ABHA?
The workflow uses an ABDM-enabled PHR application and can use the patient’s ABHA profile for sharing relevant information. ABHA is an important part of the ecosystem, but patients can use different ABDM-enabled PHR applications.
What happens after scanning the QR code?
The patient can share the required profile information, after which the healthcare facility processes the registration and generates an OPD token according to its workflow.
Does Scan and Share share the patient’s complete medical history?
Not as part of the basic OPD registration workflow. Scan and Share primarily facilitates profile information sharing for registration. Separate ABDM workflows exist for health-record discovery, linking and consent-based sharing.
Can private hospitals use Scan and Share?
Yes. ABDM states that hospitals using an ABDM-compliant HMIS can use Scan and Share.
Is Scan and Share the same as Scan and Pay?
No. Scan and Share focuses on OPD registration, while Scan and Pay supports digital payment for eligible healthcare services.
Which apps support Scan and Share?
The ABHA application and other ABDM-enabled PHR applications can support the functionality. ABDM’s ecosystem has included multiple PHR and technology partners.