Bihar Govt doctors must register on ABDM Health Registry by February
Doctors
Patna: The Bihar government has set February as the final deadline for all government doctors to complete registration on the Health Professional Registry (HPR) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). This initiative aims to bring all doctors into the state’s expanding digital health model and move towards paperless healthcare practices across public facilities.
The HPR is expected to enable doctors to issue digital prescriptions and enable seamless patient care workflows. The registry is a foundational component of ABDM, intended to streamline outpatient consultations, diagnostic referrals, and the distribution of free medicines at government health institutions, from district hospitals to remote health sub-centres.
However, implementation has been uneven so far; out of the nearly 12,900 government doctors in Bihar, only around two-thirds have completed the HPR registration. Meanwhile, the nursing staff have shown a higher implementation rate, with close to 87% enrolled on the platform. Compliance in the private sector remains particularly low, with fewer than 12% of doctors and about 14.5% of nurses registering on the platform, Hindustan Times reported.
After witnessing this gap, the state health authorities have now directed district-level leadership to close this gap without delay. Shashank Shekhar Sinha, CEO of the Bihar Swasthya Suraksha Samiti and state mission director of ABDM, said all civil surgeons have been instructed to ensure that every doctor and nurse in the public sector completes HPR registration within the next ten days, or at the latest by the end of the month.
Speaking to HT, Bihar CEO further said, “From March onwards, civil surgeons have been instructed to initiate administrative action, including stopping salary disbursement, for doctors and nurses who fail to register.”
At the national level, the implementing agency has suggested tighter system integration to improve compliance. Vikram Pagaria, Director at the National Health Authority, proposed linking HPR registration to the login credentials used by government doctors and nurses on BHAVYA, the Bihar Health Application Visionary Yojana for All. BHAVYA is an ABDM-aligned digital platform designed to manage patient records and service delivery at health and wellness centres.
Senior officials acknowledged that hesitation among a section of doctors is linked to the Aadhaar-based nature of the HPR, which can reflect clinical engagement across multiple facilities. Concerns have also been raised about absenteeism associated with private practice by some government doctors, an issue the digital registry could help flag more transparently.
The renewed push for universal HPR enrolment is part of the broader policy reforms under consideration by the state. The Bihar government is planning to put a ban on private practice by government doctors as part of its flagship Saat Nischay-3 (Seven Resolves 3.0) programme for 2025–30, which focuses on ensuring an accessible and health-secure life. The cabinet approved the rollout of the programme in December last year.
To oppose the ban on private practice by government doctors, the health department had earlier constituted a six-member committee on January 27, chaired by Dr Rekha Jha, Director-in-Chief (Nursing and Disease Control), Bihar Health Services, to consult stakeholders on the proposed prohibition.
