NATIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY PARTNERS WITH QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIA TO HELP AYUSHMAN BHARAT EMPANELLED HOSPITALS GET FAST-TRACK CERTIFICATIONS

Press Release 12th June 2019, New Delhi: National Health Authority (NHA) and Quality Council of India (QCI) today signed an MoU for launching a joint initiative of digital certification for Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) empanelled hospitals. The initiative will help the hospitals to get fast-track certification while enhancing healthcare services.

The partnership aims to create a process to facilitate certification of at least 7,000 empanelled hospitals by December 2021 to build a network of quality healthcare providers. The MoU seeks to put in place a simple, swift, transparent and paperless mechanism to encourage the hospitals to apply for certification.

Following the existing policy of incentivising the accredited hospitals, NHA also plans to incentivise the certified hospitals with higher reimbursement rates so that more hospitals apply for certification. There will be three levels of AB-PMJAY quality certifications: Bronze, Silver and Gold with Gold being the highest level under this initiative.

Speaking about the partnership Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO AB-PMJAY and NHA said, “There is an urgent need to help hospitals to get certified to improve the quality healthcare ecosystem in the country. NHA, therefore, has decided to collaborate with QCI and use its well-established systems, skills and credibility for hospital certification. This will boost confidence of beneficiaries in the quality of care being provided under the scheme.”

Since the treatment rates are fixed and health care providers have been identified, high quality treatment becomes a prime concern of the scheme. The NHA, which is implementing AB-PMJAY, is keeping a watch on the treatment outcomes being achieved by the empanelled hospitals. To ensure quality in healthcare, another accepted way is to monitor at the input level, and certification of the healthcare providers is the right approach for the same.

Hospitals which are already certified by nationally or internationally recognized accreditation body can also avail the benefits of the scheme. NABH’s Entry-Level/ NQAS certified hospitals can apply for AB PM-JAY Silver quality certification and hospitals with NABH’s Full Accreditation/JCI accreditation can apply for AB PM-JAY Gold quality certification directly. Additionally, AB PM-JAY Bronze quality certified hospitals can apply for Silver and later for Gold after successive time period of six months.

Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI said, “At every step, QCI will be NHA’s partner to achieve the goal of certification of hospitals across India. The joint initiative of NHA and QCI will definitely help the country in achieving the goal of quality healthcare.”

The MoU was signed by Dr. Arun Gupta, Executive Director, National Health Authority and Dr. Ravi P. Singh, Secretary General, Quality Council of India.

ABOUT AYUSHMAN BHARAT - PRADHAN MANTRI JAN AROGYA YOJANA (AB - PMJAY):

Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is the flagship scheme of Government of India that provides a cover of up to Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to over 10.74 crore vulnerable entitled families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries). PM-JAY provides cashless and paperless access to services for the beneficiary at the point of service. Under this scheme there are 1,393 health benefit packages with defined rates. Over 15,223 hospitals and health care providers have been empanelled across the country to provide healthcare services as per these packages. 3.65 Crore ecards have been issued to the beneficiaries and 28.11 lakhs beneficiaries have availed treatment worth Rs 3,785 Crs.

ABOUT NATIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY (NHA):

The National Health Authority (NHA) is responsible for providing the overall stewardship for design, roll- out, implementation and management of Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB - PMJAY) at the national level. NHA is governed by a Governing Board chaired by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare and has 11 members. Inter-alia, its functions include, formulation of PMJAY policies, development of operational guidelines, implementation mechanisms, coordination with state governments, monitoring and oversight, among others.

ABOUT QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIA (QCI)

Established in 1997 through a Cabinet decision of the Government of India (GoI) – QCI is an autonomous organization under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is the Quality Apex and National Accreditation Body for accreditation and quality promotion in the country. The Council was established to provide a credible, reliable mechanism for third party assessment of products, services and processes which is accepted and recognized globally.

PROGRESS OF AB-PMJAY (as on 11/06/2019 4:00 PM):

. E-Cards Issued = 3.65 crore . Beneficiaries Admitted in Hospital = 28.11 lakh . Amount Authorized for Admissions = 3784 Cr . Hospitals Empanelled = 15,223