Hyderabad|India|A There are a number of hospitals in India that offer a multitude of medical services. In a medical emergency, the nearest hospital is chosen. However, when there is time to choose a hospital, how should one choose? Choose NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare) Accredited Hospital. Medwin becomes the 1st NABH Accredited Hospital in Andhra Pradesh and 20th in India K.R. Suresh Reddy, Assembly Speaker presented the certificate in a function especially organized in Medwin Hospitals. Dr. K.S.Rao, MP and J. Hari Narayan, Chairman of IRDA graced the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Speaker Suresh Reddy said that Medwin has set the standards for other hospitals in the state to emulate. He congratulated hospital management always for striving hard to provide quality medical care. In India today falling ill is a curse to common man. Efforts must be put in to take health care to the poorest of the poor, he urged the gathering assembled there.

Welcoming the gathering earlier Dr. Ramesh Babu,Cheif Cardiologist and Managing Director of Medwin Hospitals said NABH will have International Recognition. We were the first to get The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certification earlier and now NABH Accreditation. This is expected to boost India’s Medical Tourism, helping major Tourists on a visit to India to help them restore to health from assortment of their ailments by accessing the best medical care of Indian doctors acclaimed as one of the best World Standards! International Society for Quality Healthcare (ISQua) is an International body which grants approval to Accreditation Bodies in the area of Healthcare as mark of equivalence of Accreditation program of member countries! So far hospital standards on only Eleven Countries viz. Australia, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, South Africa, Taiwan, United Kingdom were accredited by ISQua. INDIA BECOMES THE 12th COUNTRY TO JOIN IN THIS GROUP, he informed.

What’s NABH? It is National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare providers (NABH), a constituent board of Quality Council of India, set up to establish and operate accreditation program for healthcare organizations which provide international standard quality, care and safety measures. In United States of America 99% of the hospitals are NABH Accredited. But, unfortunately in India just 20 and in A.P just one is accredited. Although the concept of accreditation and its importance for healthcare has been evident worldwide for the last 40 years, this aspect has entered the Indian scenario only for the past couple of years, informed Dr. Ramesh Babu.

The NABH was established in 2005 and released the first set of standards for healthcare organizations. The first NABH Certificate in India was awarded to B.M. Birla Heart Research Centre, Calcutta by the then President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, he informed.

Addressing the gathering J. Harinarayan, former Chief Secretary and Chairman of IRDA said the NABH is a perfect way to identify world class healthcare service, both in infrastructure of equipments and also the treatment methodology. He said India has 35000 hospitals in private sector and 21000 in public sector. The Healthcare expenditure estimated to be about Rs 200000 crore. The private sector will continue to be the largest component of healthcare spending which is likely to be Rs 156,000 crore. About Rs 6000 crore is spent annually on health insurance. As per the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority’s data, the market size of the health insurance sector stood at Rs 5,152 crore in FY 2008 (with only a small section — around 2 per cent — of the total population being covered so far), up from Rs 761 crore in FY 2002. Annually a small number of 74 lakh health insurance policies are issued in India this when compared with 110 crore population is a meager number. It is found that the average hospitalization of a patient is four days and average claim is 25000/- and average settlement by the insurer stood Rs 20,000/-. Mumbai and Bangalore costs high in terms of medical expenditure and Delhi and Hyderabad are found be the lowest.

K.S. Rao, Chairman of the Medwin said that India doctors are the world best. But, we have tremendous shortage of super specialists. he said. Adding further Dr. Ramesh Babu said the certification endorses the various medical processes and treatment standards being adopted by Medwin to be of world class and international norms. It is an honour to be accredited by NABH for any hospital as it is issued only after a stringent analysis of the quality and care competence and leverages provided in any healthcare issues by the hospital and also the professionals related to that institution. It took Medwin two years to get the accreditation. As per the NABH mandate, the hospital went through three levels of evaluation - a pre-assessment, a final assessment and a verification assessment and was evaluated for compliance to 503 elements of the NABH standards. It is to the credit of the team Medwin that the hospital cleared each of these levels in one attempt.

This accreditation augurs good for patients. Patients are the biggest beneficiaries. Some of the advantages patients get in NABH accredited hospital include The patients get services by credentialed medical staff. Rights of patients are respected and protected. Patient satisfaction is regularly evaluated. Accreditation to a Hospital stimulates continuous improvement, which enables hospital in demonstrating commitment to quality care. It raises community confidence in the services provided by the hospital. It also provides opportunity to healthcare unit to benchmark with the best. Medwin Hospitals is a trusted choice in the state for quality healthcare; it comes with 20 years of committed dedication in the service. At Medwin, we believe we are much more than just doctors. We feel we are also just like you, thinking like you, for you. That’s why; we have taken a step further in associating with you as your family doctor, said Dr. Ramesh Babu.

Reachout's News Bureau
 December' 2008