INDORE: Only eight hospitals in Madhya Pradesh, including three in Indore hold accreditation of the National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers (NABH), a board constituted by the centre and industry that sets standards in healthcare.
There are nearly 400 hospitals in the country that have got the accreditation done from the NABH. "Hospitals should not shy away from being assessed for quality. A kind of complacency has set in among hospitals and they are afraid to undergo quality checks. NABH standards are not difficult to meet and more hospitals should come forward and get themselves accredited," NABH CEO Dr KK Kalra said.
Accreditation in healthcare goes beyond just infrastructure for a hospital. It is about process and outcome. The quality in health care is very different from other fields as it aims to save lives," he added.
While NABH emphasizes that every hospital claiming to offer world class healthcare facilities and infrastructure should strive to get NABH accreditation, only a few hospitals want to get certified as they feel it will only increase the treatment cost.
Joint secretary, MP state private nursing homes association, Dr Ravi Verma said, "Norms of NABH are really tough to follow. In Indian scenario, where people cannot afford costly treatment, NABH accreditation is impractical. To follow the NABH norms, hospitals have to change their existing infrastructure altogether increasing the treatment cost."
The NABH accreditation process covers all the aspects of hospital management.