NHCX Biometric Verification

Overview

Many NHCX schemes (including PMJAY) require biometric verification of the beneficiary at admission and discharge. The system supports two capture methods:

• Device biometric — fingerprint or iris, captured using a registered ABDM RD device.
• Face authentication — the patient scans a QR code with the ABHA app and completes a face scan.

The process can be for Admission (pre-auth) or Discharge (claim), and a status badge shows whether the capture is still valid.

For cyclical procedures (benefits with multiple treatment cycles, e.g. chronic haemodialysis), biometric authentication is discharge-type and captured once per cycle — see Cyclical procedures.

Where to find it

Biometric capture appears inside the pre-auth and claim workflows, at the bottom of the form — below the Attachments section and immediately above Submit — so it is done after the rest of the form is filled in. The section is labelled Biometric (Preauth) or Biometric (Discharge) and shows a status badge:

• Captured · valid until … — capture is valid and not yet expired.
• Expired — re-capture — the capture has lapsed.
• Not captured — no capture yet for this patient + payer + process.

Device biometric (fingerprint / iris)

1. Select the Authentication Method: Fingerprint or Iris.
2. Click Discover Biometric to find the RD device (it searches the local ports used by the ABDM RD service).
3. Click Capture Fingerprint (or Capture Iris) and present the patient's finger/eye.
4. Click Send to submit the capture.

The RD device must be installed, registered, and running the RD service on the workstation for capture to work.

For a newborn claim, the biometric is captured against the card-holder parent's ABHA — the parent presents their finger/eye for capture, not the baby.

Face authentication

1. Enter the patient's Aadhaar Number and Aadhaar-Linked Mobile Number.
2. Click Initiate Face Auth.
3. A QR code appears. Have the patient open the ABHA app, tap the QR icon, and scan the code to complete the face scan.
4. Click I've Scanned — Check Status. The system polls for the face-scan result and verifies it.

Cyclical procedures

For a cyclical procedure (e.g. chronic haemodialysis), biometric authentication works differently:

• It uses the discharge-type process, captured once per cycle at the start of each treatment cycle.
• In the workflow's Treatment Cycle Biometric section, capture the biometric with Record Cycle, then record the cycle's closing information with Add Discharge Details.

The Treatment Cycle Biometric section appears only on workflows whose authorized procedure is flagged cyclical in the insurance plan — a one-off procedure has no cycles to record, so the section is not shown for it. Once a cycle has been recorded, or once the payer has already returned a cycle count for the case, the section stays visible — so a workflow already in progress never loses the buttons.

Record Cycle

Click Record Cycle and, for each cycle:

• Set the Cycle Number (auto-increments to the next cycle).
• Choose the Authentication Method — fingerprint or iris — and complete the capture (discharge-type). Face authentication is not available for cyclical procedures.

The admission timestamp is the biometric capture time. The modal's Existing cycles readout lists previously captured cycles.

The next cycle is gated to 24 hours after the previous capture — the Record Cycle button is disabled during this window and shows a countdown. If a cycle genuinely needs to be recorded sooner (e.g. a wrong capture that must be redone, or two procedures in a single pre-auth such as a dog-bite treatment plus dialysis), tick Allow next cycle now to re-enable the button immediately.

Add Discharge Details

After the cycle's biometric is captured, click Add Discharge Details to attach the closing information:

• Select the Cycle from the completed cycles.
• Set the Discharge / End Time. It must be on or after the cycle's admission time (the biometric capture time) — an earlier time is rejected with "Discharge time cannot be before the cycle admission time".
• Attach a Clinical document (required) — either upload a file, or click Choose from records to pick an existing record document — and add an optional Remark.

Each cycle's clinical document and remark are carried into the claim bundle, and the discharge/end time is used as the cycle's end timestamp in the claim.

Common Issues

• "Device not discovered" — the RD service is not reachable. Ensure the device is connected and the RD service is running.
• "Capture Failed" — the device did not return a valid capture; try again.
• Face scan times out — the patient has ~60 seconds to complete the scan; restart and try again.

FAQ

Q: Which methods does my setup support? A: Fingerprint/iris requires a registered RD device on the workstation. Face auth requires the patient's Aadhaar and linked mobile, plus the ABHA app.

Q: Is biometric capture required for every claim? A: It depends on the scheme/payer requirements. When required, the capture must be valid at the point of submission.