Brickwork Ratings India Pvt. Ltd., has initiated grading of healthcare providers based on clinical outcomes. The grading covers hospitals across private and government sectors, diagnostic labs, pharmacies and health insurance.

Grading is public reporting of quality of care which should be patient centric and this transparency will spur doctors and hospitals to improve quality and safety while at the same time giving patients valuable data about facilities to seek treatment, said Vivek Kulkarni, managing director, Brickwork Ratings.

In order to endorse the safety and patient outcomes, currently, the healthcare industry goes in for an audit by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers(NABH) under the aegis of the Quality Council of India (QCI). “But NABH is not a rating mechanism, it is a compliance approach to deliver quality of care at healthcare institutions. Although we have been engaged in grading other industries, grading of hospitals is first-of-its-kind which is based on clinical outcomes with a focus on patient safety, clinical effectiveness, time lines and efficiency,” he added.

The response for grading hospitals has been positive. To begin with, we would concentrate on Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra. Plans are chalked out for a pan India foray and global market entry too, Brickwork chief told Pharmabiz.

The company prefers to take on select assignment and identify its clientele based on affordability, ethical practices, clinical governance, practice of evidence based medicine, to name a few. It will assess the benefits of hospital grading on the patients and help create a model hospital for the rest of the healthcare sector. In this regard, it has set its sight on all kinds of facilities spanning from private, public, trust and NGO-run hospitals. It would then move on the next level of healthcare service providers covering nursing homes, polyclinics, traditional medicine or Ayush hospitals.

The company is approved by SEBI, NSIC and RBI where it is recognised as a Central Recordkeeping Agency adhering to pre rating and post rating process for its clients in the financial sector, but not related for hospital grading. For instance the RBI approval is more for bank loan ratings. Specific to healthcare industry are two kinds of ratings. One is Public Rating where the healthcare provider makes a request for a rating. The other is private rating for the insurance agencies or TPAs, that need to empanel high-quality private hospitals, he said.

The fees for rating varies from Rs.100,000 to Rs.600,000 as it depends on the hospital size and bed-strength. For standalone clinics, primary and community health centres it is Rs.20,000 and Rs.50,000. The annual surveillance fees ranges from 40 per cent to 60 per cent of the total assignment cost.

Globally the rating of hospitals differ in each country. These include NHS, Medicare, Medicaid which are state sponsored programmes with certain benchmarks and JCI accreditation.