Conceived and developed in consultation with various stake holders in the country towards enhancing the quality of patient care, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations (NABH) is in the process of accrediting around 300 healthcare institutions based on the new pre-accreditation entry level certification standards.

The new standards will enhance the capacity of the small healthcare institutions in the country in terms of manpower and infrastructure. As a matter of reference, a 100 bed hospital should have 45 nurses as per the Indian Public Health Standards requirement. The certification is voluntary in nature with annual fees of Rs. 10,000 for a 50 bed or below hospital and Rs. 25,000 for a 50 and above bed hospital.

NABH had last year accredited 206 small healthcare institutions based on the new pre-accreditation entry level certification standards. Once pre-accreditation entry level certification is achieved, the small hospitals can then prepare and move to the next stage - progressive level and finally to full accreditation status. As of today, there are around 600 NABH accredited hospitals in the country.

NABH has developed pre-accreditation entry-level standards for small healthcare institutions which could go a long way to strengthen the quality of healthcare delivery in the country, particularly among the network hospitals participating in government led health insurance schemes.

Two sets of pre-accreditation entry-level standards, one based on NABH SHCO standards for hospitals under 50 beds, and the other using NABH standards for hospitals with 50 beds or more, were suggested by the Collaborative which were finalized and published by the NABH in 2014.

This has created a quality benchmark which is not only within the reach of the vast majority of hospitals, but also sets the stage for steady progress to higher levels of NABH standards. The NABH pre-accreditation entry-level standards for SHCOs consist of 41 standards and 149 objective elements.

NABH is a constituent board of Quality Council of India (QCI), set up to establish and operate accreditation programme for healthcare organisations. The board is structured to cater to needs of the consumers and to set benchmarks for progress of health industry. While being supported by all stakeholders including industry, consumers, government, NABH has full functional autonomy in its operation.