TN Decides to Accredit Hospitals Providing Health Insurance

The National Accreditation Board For Hospitals and Healthcare Providers will go through 149 objective parameters for entry-level approval for small hospitals. For hospitals with bed strength above 50, the board has set more than 600 standards. Infection control, pharmacy management, care of patients and patient rights are among major benchmarks. Health centres need to pay 10,000 as certification fees, and State health officials are insistent on getting a good portion of the 834 government and private hospitals offering the insurance scheme.

State health scheme has reached to more than seven lakh lives so far, spending around Rs. 1,509 crore since its initiation in January 2012. Over 2.74 lakh patients have gone through life-saving surgeries at Government hospitals. The scheme has spread its coverage to 1,016 diseases now, and is looking at including heart transplants.

Better quality lessens huge unnecessary costs for all stakeholders – the insurer, the hospital and the State. One fourth of India’s population by 2010 was benefited by several ways from Government health schemes.

Costs of excessive healthcare due to incorrect diagnosis and errors during surgeries crossed $41.5 billion in 2006, a number equal to total healthcare expenditure in India during the year. Also, NABH has only 250 hospitals accredited in a country of more than one lakh health centres.