NABH International Accreditation is accreditation of a Health Care Organisation(HCO) to NABH Standards. NABH I is a body which is not for profit. It has support of government, industry and consumer bodies. NABH standards for Hospitals are accredited by ISQua (International Society for Quality in Health Care). NABH is also accredited by ISQua as an organisation.

As discussed in point 1, NABH standards for Hospitals are accredited by ISQua, making it equivalent to all the other international accrediting bodies accredited by ISQua. NABH is an institutional member of ISQua and is also member for ISQua Accreditation Council. With Philippines, NABH has stepped into international fields for the first time. We would be launching NABH- International in few other countries soon.

• NABH Standards are accredited by ISQUA, therefore on par with any of the ISQUA recognized standards for accreditation.
• Assessments conducted by practicing doctors and active healthcare management professionals and not by retired or semi-retired professionals. This brings contemporary, practical element into assessment process and adds value for the organization.
• Pre-assessment is consultative, imparting knowledge of the best practices in clinical care integration while implementing the elements of NABH Standards.
• Least cost involved as NABH is not for profit body.

Same as Answer 3.

NABH standards for Hospitals are accredited by ISQua (International Society for Quality in Health Care). All accreditation bodies whose standard are accredited by ISQua, basically conform to common criteria as established by ISQua. Technically speaking all bodies are expected to operate at same level of competence. There can be difference in their organizational functioning. Some may be under government, some under the aegis of government, some private and some being not for profit. The major difference between NABH-I and other international accreditations is its affordable cost. The NABH-I was primarily set up to redefine the healthcare delivery in the developing world.

Some of them are already described in point no. 2. NABH is currently operating in India with nearly 1000 hospitals in various phases of accreditation and 299 hospitals already accredited and 47 SHCO has already been accredited. Philippines is the first venture of NABH outside India and it was chosen as it faces the similar challenges in healthcare as India. Though Philippines has some advantages also as compared to other countries in terms of having well-trained healthcare professionals with excellent English communication skills, thereby making the training of the doctors in NABH standards easier.

The number of days of assessment varies depending on the size of the facility and scope of services offered by it. The applicant organization implements NABH I standards and does a self assessment and submits the report along with the relevant documentation. This is followed by the NABH assessment team doing a document review (offsite) followed by two onsite assessments i.e. Pre-assessment and Final Assessment. Once accredited, the organization is accredited for a period of 3 years.

We have launched Accreditation Programmes for Hospitals, Small Health Care Organizations, Blood Banks, Medical Imaging centres, Dental Centres. Under this, standards have been released for the respective category of HCOs (health care organizations) as per their requirements and needs. The HCO may apply under any of the above relevant accreditation programme depending upon the services offered by them.

State legislatures and health insurances companies have launched initiatives to explore the potential benefits of incorporating medical tourism into health plans. The biggest hurdle was quality of care. Accreditation of the hospitals/health care organizations have proved as a guiding light for the consumer to identify and differentiate organizations providing safe and quality care.

With the health care costs increasing at 6 % per year for the next decade and medical tourism offering savings of up to 70 % after travel expenses, we anticipate that the industry will recover from the current economic downturn and attain 35 % annual growth in coming years. Infact as per a study done by Mckinsey and CII, Medical Tourism in India is expected to become an Rs 100 billion business by 2012.

Once accredited, the organization is accredited for a period of 3 years.

NABH is currently operating in India with nearly 1000 hospitals in various phases of accreditation and 299 hospitals and 47 SHCO has already been accredited. Philippines is the first venture of NABH outside India. We are planning to enter Middle East and SAARC countries.

NABH I puts a lot on emphasis on Patient Safety aspects. There are designated standards dealing with patient rights and quality assurance programmes for laboratory services, radiology services and hospital Infection control. In NABH Hospital Standards which comprises of 10 chapters, the first five chapters are patient centric. Even in other five chapters, patient safety aspects are extensively looked into for example Chapters like Continuous Quality Improvement, Hospital Infection Control and Facility Management and Safety.

ISO (9000) is generic management system certification and is not specifically written for healthcare. NABH International has global acceptance. Object of NABH-I operating in Philippines is to enable some of the hospitals to attain global acceptance by way of accreditation. During this process, NABH also will build capacity by training local doctors as surveyors/assessors, which eventually will help Phil health Accreditation.

• Accreditation helps by improving on indicators.
• Accreditation also prevents losses caused by medical negligence.
• It brings in practices of Evidence Based Medicine.
• Accreditation streamlines your systems and processes and prevents duplication of work. It eliminates non-value added processes.
• Quality comes at a cost but absence of quality can be damaging. In the longer run it proves to be cost effective. Studies have shown that a matured accreditation will result in more profitability to the hospitals and even less taxing to the patient.