Indian healthcare needs comprehensive accreditation standards for ayurvedic services providers. Although the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) have made efforts for a nationwide standardization of ayurvedic healthcare services, a lot more needs to be done, stated Dr Partap Chauhan, director, Jiva Ayurveda.

Ayush treatments were officially brought under insurance cover in 2016. However, the flexibility and utility of the typical insurance plans for ayurvedic treatment is limited. This hampers the traditional medical science’s ability to be the primary choice of patients. Compared to allopathy treatment, the maximum amount covered for ayurvedic treatments is usually low. In addition, only a few provide cashless facility for bill settlement, and payments are settled only on reimbursement basis. The Insurance Regulation and Development Authority (IRDA) makes insurance for Ayurveda more inaccessible with its stipulation that patients can seek treatment only at government hospitals and Quality Council of India or NABH accredited healthcare services providers. This again emphasises the need for nationwide accreditation of healthcare providers, he added.
 
It is critical to conduct extensive and rigorous systematic research, data collection, and analysis in Ayurveda. The Indian system of medicine providers need to collaborate with leading universities and establish research chairs in Ayurveda. Such a rapport would not only be symbiotic for the participants, but it will help validate ayurvedic knowledge scientifically and open up possibilities of new, radical treatment methods, stated Dr Chauhan.
 
Ayurveda practitioners and its service providers need a formal framework for information sharing on regulatory norms and quality standards to reduce errors and malpractice. Focus on nationwide capacity building initiatives can help standardise the practice of ayurvedic medicine through training in safe, ethical, and effective best practices.

It is crucial for the government to initiate talks with insurers to provide comprehensive insurance coverage for ayurvedic treatments. In addition to developing protocols for more diseases, the training of doctors needs more qualitative improvements, rigour, and investment. The quality of ayurvedic medicines must also be rigorously maintained and monitored. Both pharmacies, researchers, and healthcare providers must work together to overcome the challenge of making Ayurveda mainstream.
 
Although Ayurveda enables complete health and wellness, a 2015 survey by the National Sample Survey Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed 90% of Indians preferred allopathy over Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Sidda, and Homoeopath). The survey reported only five to seven per cent primary preference for Ayush in urban and rural India despite the government’s active promotion.
 
Discussing on ways to mitigate challenges to bolster the mass adoption of Ayurveda, Dr Chauhan said that there was a need for a holistic approach to healthcare that not only addresses the root causes of diseases, but also comprehensively empowers people with practical and actionable tools to maintain total health and wellness. “Holistic advancements in research methodology are required to drive evidence-based research and data analysis in Ayurveda.”