With a view to streamline the treatment procedures and protocols, the Union health ministry is planning to introduce standard treatment guidelines (STG) in 20 disciplines under the Clinical Establishments Act in a phased manner.

However, the STGs will be binding only on hospitals and establishments registered under the Clinical Establishments Act 2010 in the States which have adopted this act. The first of the discipline to get STG will be for clinical surgical intervention in cardiovascular diseases.

The National Council for Clinical Establishments, the apex body under the Clinical Establishments Act, has already discussed the draft STGs, prepared by the experts. The first of the STG may be announced soon, it is learnt.

At present only Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand, apart from all Union Territories, have adopted the Act despite the best efforts by the Centre to persuade all of them. Most of the establishments in these states have already registered with the council and will follow the STGs.  Some States  like West Bengal have their own CE Act while Tamil Nadu has its own STGs.

The disciplines for which the draft STGs had been developed are  cardiovascular,  endocrinology,  ENT,  gastroenterology, general surgery,  interventional radiology,  laboratory medicine,  obstetrics and gynaecology,  organ transplant, paediatrics, oncology,  urology, nephrology, GI surgery, medicine respiratory, medicine non-respiratory , critical care, ophthalmology, neurology  and orthopaedics.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) had coordinated the framing process and submitted the STGs to the ministry in September 2012. Several meetings of the experts were held after that to finalise the STGs.

It has been one of the long-standing demands from different quarters, especially the medical insurance firms as absence of laid-down protocols allowed hospitals to adopt unnecessary procedures on insured patients. The Centre has been working on the idea for over two years now.