NABH, World Bank releases pre-accreditation guidebook for SHCOs

SHCOs that aspire to improve the quality of their care but lack the internal capacity to achieve this on their own, will benefit from this document

The ‘Guidebook for Pre-Accreditation Entry-Level Standards for Small Healthcare Organizations’ was recently released by NS Kang, Additional Secretary and Director-General, CGHS, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India, in the presence of senior government officials from all over the country. The guidebook is a product of a collaboration between the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) and the quality collaborative initiative of World Bank. Reportedly, a team of renowned experts in healthcare quality, with considerable experience in accreditation and quality assessments, led by Dr Alexander Thomas (President, CAHO), Dr Somil Nagpal and Dr Abha Mehndiratta (both of the World Bank) developed this document.

Currently, there are around 300 NABH-accredited hospitals in the country. With the introduction of the pre-accreditation entry-level standards for SHCOs published by NABH, quality is within the reach of smaller hospitals, nursing homes and healthcare organisations of India. The IRDA, RSBY and many state governments are considering the entry-level standards as a requirement for empanelment within the next few years. NABH claims that this guidebook is, therefore, an important milestone in an effort to standardise healthcare at the grassroots and will have far-reaching effects across the country. It contains comprehensive information with tools and templates on 27 selected entry-level standards for small healthcare organisations (hospitals under 50 beds), out of the 41 standards published by the NABH. SHCOs that aspire to improve the quality of their care but lack the internal capacity to achieve this on their own, will benefit from this document. Dr K Kalra, CEO, NABH, has commended this document as a piece of ‘excellent work.’ The guidebook will be made available online on the NABH website.

EH News Bureau