1 November 2026 • 5 min read
This sheet is for product managers and founders at hospitals, clinic software and health apps who are asked to "support FHIR" or "send ABDM-compliant records" and need the vocabulary. The ABDM terms come from the FHIR Implementation Guide for ABDM (published by the National Resource Center for EHR Standards) and from the ABDM sandbox documentation, version 2.5 of March 2025. The HL7 terms come from the HL7 FHIR specification pages. Those HL7 pages open on release 5; ABDM is built on release R4, so check an element against the ABDM guide before you rely on the general text.
For the ABHA and sign-up side, see ABHA integration guide and ABDM digital health regulations.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| HL7 | The organisation that publishes the FHIR standard. |
| FHIR | A standard for health care data exchange, published by HL7. ABDM's guide is based on FHIR version R4 (package version 4.0.1). |
| HL7 V2 | HL7's first information exchange standard, still widely used inside hospitals. It sends messages made of re-usable segments. FHIR's own comparison page says V2 segments cannot be handled on their own the way FHIR resources can. |
| CDA (Clinical Document Architecture) | HL7's most widely adopted V3 standard. It carries a standard header with metadata and clinical content organised in sections. The content can be as plain as a PDF. |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Resource | An instance of data that is stored or exchanged. Each has an identity, a type, structured data items and a version. Patient and Medication are resource types. |
| Profile | A set of constraints on a resource. ABDM's profiles list the minimum mandatory elements and terminology requirements that must be present. |
| Implementation guide (IG) | A published package of profiles, value sets and examples for one use. The ABDM guide sets the minimum health record artefacts that can be captured and exchanged. |
| Composition | A resource that groups health information into a single logical document, with its own context and a clinician who attests to it. It gives the document its structure. |
| Bundle | A container for a collection of resources. A bundle of type document must have an identifier and a date, and a Composition as its first resource. |
| MUST Support | In the ABDM guide, the receiver (HIU) must be able to read the element even though it is optional. The sender (HIP) may choose not to fill it. |
| Value set | A set of codes defined for a field. The ABDM guide has a terminology page listing the value sets it defines. |
| Profile | What the guide says it is |
|---|---|
| PrescriptionRecord | Medication advice to the patient, in line with Pharmacy Council of India guidelines. |
| DiagnosticReportRecord | Radiology and laboratory reports. |
| DischargeSummaryRecord | The discharge summary document. |
| OPConsultRecord | An outpatient visit consultation note, including examinations, procedures, medication given and advice. |
| ImmunizationRecord | Immunisation records with extra documents such as the vaccine certificate and next-dose recommendations. |
| WellnessRecord | Regular wellness information, usually from a patient health record app, such as vitals and general wellness. |
| HealthDocumentRecord | Unstructured historical records, usually uploaded by patients through the Health Locker. |
| InvoiceRecord | A billing artefact: pharmacy or consultation invoice, with scanned documents attached. |
| DocumentBundle | The Bundle profile that puts all resources of a record into one exchangeable clinical document. |
Seven of these are clinical and one is a billing artefact, all based on Composition. DocumentBundle wraps them for exchange. The guide also defines profiles for single resources such as Patient, Practitioner, Encounter, Condition and Observation.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| SNOMED CT | A clinical terminology. The PrescriptionRecord profile fixes its type to a SNOMED CT code, 440545006. Value sets also use it for diagnosis type, encounter type, route of administration and specimen type. |
| LOINC | A coding system the guide uses for body measurement, physical activity, vital signs and women's health observations. |
| ICD-10 | The code set behind the guide's Diagnostic Code value set. |
| Common Drug Codes for India | The national extension the Medicine Codes value set draws on, together with SNOMED CT clinical drugs. |
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| HIP (health information provider) | Any entity that creates health information about a user and can share it digitally using compliant software. |
| HIU (health information user) | Any entity that wants to view a person's health records, with that person's informed consent, using compliant software. |
| HIE-CM (consent manager) | The ABDM building block that manages ABHA addresses, keeps links to health data for each address and manages the user's consents. |
| Care context | The unit a HIP links to an ABHA address. HIUs can subscribe to be told when a new care context is linked or new data is available. |
| hiTypes | The list of record types named in a consent request, such as Prescription, DiagnosticReport, DischargeSummary, ImmunizationRecord, HealthDocumentRecord, WellnessRecord and OPConsultation. |
| Consent artefact | Generated only if a consent request is granted. It carries purpose, HI types, access mode, requester, date range and validity. The consent manager shares it with both the HIP and the HIU. |
| Data push URL | A callback address the HIU gives so the HIP can push the data. The HIP bundles the care context or health data as per FHIR standards. |
| Encryption | The sandbox documentation says Elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman based encryption is used for the health information. |
No. Build the ones your product creates or reads. A lab system maps to DiagnosticReportRecord; a clinic app to PrescriptionRecord and OPConsultRecord.
A Composition gives a document its structure and sections. A Bundle carries the Composition and all the resources it refers to. In a document bundle the Composition is the first entry.
HL7's comparison page says V2 is prominent in in-patient settings, so a hospital system may still send V2 messages and need them translated. The ABDM guide itself specifies FHIR R4 profiles.
On the profile page of the ABDM guide. Each page lists mandatory elements, fixed codes and examples, and the guide's home page lists the current version.
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