NABH Certification

Take your hospital to the next level with NABH ?

The main reason to bring in NABH standards was to promote global best practices. NABH accreditation requires an institution to change their existing culture.

They also need to adopt new policies to achieve compliance to the given standards. The hospital is compelled to follow detailed guidelines and measure their performance on pre-defined quality indicators.

Recently, patients have realized the importance of accreditation and have become conscious in the choice of their hospitals. They will not prefer to visit a hospital if it has great infrastructure, good doctors and affordable pricing but is unaccredited.

The health trends have changed now. Patients are now more worried about the quality of care they receive and not about the cost of the treatment. In such cases, the hospital which has gained accreditation will enjoy an edge over its unaccredited peers.

Requirements of NABH standards ?

To get NABH accreditation, hospitals and healthcare organisations must follow the infrastructure and quality requirements regarding the various parts of the hospital. The key requirements include the following:

More than 50 beds (Hospitals with less than 50 beds fall under SHCO standards)

Modular operation theatre.

Disabled-friendly halls, passages, and washrooms.

Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) room.

Bio-medical waste room.

Laminar flow ventilation.

NABH Accreditation procedure ?

Any organisation planning to get NABH accredited has to go through the following 7 stages.Depending upon the size and scope of organisation it can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to complete the whole process.

Organisation wide implementation.

Internal auditing/self assessment.

Application for acceditation.

Pre Assessment.

Final Assessment.

Accreditation.

Surveillance and Re-assessment.

Preparation for NABH Accreditation ?

To obtain NABH accreditation, hospital administration must prepare an action plan and appoint a person or organisation responsible for coordinating all accreditation-related activities. Following are the steps for NABH accreditation preparation:

The hospital seeking accreditation must appoint an officer familiar with the existing quality assurance system. This helps the officer identify the loopholes and areas where improvements must be made.

The officer must have a complete understanding of the NABH accreditation process.

The appointed officer must ensure the implementation of higher standards in the hospital.

The hospital should undergo a self-assessment against NABH standards before submitting the application form.

Benefits of NABH Accreditation ?

A public recognition of the achievement of accreditation standards by a healthcare organization, demonstrated through an independent external peer assessment of that organization's level of performance in relation to the standards.

Accreditation benefits all stake holders. Patients are the biggest beneficiary. Accreditation results in high quality of care and patient safety. The patients get services by credential medical staff. Rights of patients are respected and protected. Patient satisfaction is regularly evaluated.

The staff in a accredited health care organization are satisfied lot as it provides for continuous learning, good working environment, leadership and above all ownership of clinical processes.

Accreditation to a health care organization stimulates continuous improvement. It enables the organization in demonstrating commitment to quality care. It raises community confidence in the services provided by the health care organization. It also provides opportunity to healthcare unit to benchmark with the best.

Finally, accreditation provides an objective system of empanelment by insurance and other third parties. Accreditation provides access to reliable and certified information on facilities, infrastructure and level of care.

Eligibility for NABH accreditation ?

Organisation can go for NABH accreditation.

Hospitals

Blood banks

Blood storage centres

Dental clinics

Medical imaging services

Oral Substitution Therapy(OST)centre

Allopathic clinics

Ayush hospitals

Wellness centres

NABH certification is given for the following categories/organisation.

Entry level hospitals

Medical laboratories

Nursing excellence

Emergency departments

Hospital infection control

Implementing the NABH standards ?

Depending upon the activities,scope and size of your organisation the standard will be different .In general the implementation will include the following procedure.

Training all staff on the respective standard.

Documentation of Manuals,SOPS work,instructions,records etc.

Meeting infrastructure requirements.

Meeting mandatory Government rule and Industry regulation