The Hindu : New Delhi News : CII recommends grading of hospitals

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CII recommends grading of hospitals

Staff Reporter

‘Need to raise awareness about the concept among stakeholders’

NEW DELHI: In an effort to assess the current status of hospital accreditation in the country, deliberate on its benefits and look into key drivers that propel accreditation to ensure its wider reach and coverage, the Confederation of Indian Industry recently conducted a study on “Accreditation of Hospitals in India”. It was done under the aegis of the CII healthcare sub-committee on standardisation and quality.

Based on the study, the CII has brought out a set of recommendations which it claims will serve to expedite the accreditation process.

“While applying for accreditation is entirely voluntary on the part of the hospital management, eventually as accreditation attains wider reach and coverage, hospitals without an accredited status may find themselves without business,” said a statement issued by CII on Sunday.

It stressed the need for raising awareness about the concept among stakeholders which it claims will be an essential prerequisite to popularising accreditation process

The CII has proposed that the Health and Family Welfare Ministry can act as a key enabler in popularising the concept of accreditation. “The Central Government Health Scheme empanelment could serve as a main driver propelling accreditation of hospitals. An incentive to public hospitals may be considered in the form of the hospitals being allowed to levy user charges and thereafter utilising the proceeds to better hospital services,” noted the release. The study has also looked into the role of the industry, packaged programmes for accreditation and grading for healthcare sector in the country.

“There has been a need for accreditation of hospitals in this country to a large extent due to the inflow of medical tourists along with the rising living standards of the population. In addition, rising consumer awareness, entry of big corporate players and overseas healthcare providers to India and the development of the health insurance market have been the forces propelling accreditation in the country,” said the release.

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