NEW DELHI: Health insurance beneficiaries heaved a sigh of relief after the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) granted one-year extension to the private hospitals for getting accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH).
The empanelment of thousands of hospitals, which do not have NABH entry-level accreditation, was in jeopardy as an earlier directive had made accreditation a mandatory criterion for hospitals to allow cashless hospitalisation.
Currently, only about 700-odd of the total estimated 60,000 hospitals are NABH accredited.
In 2016, the IRDA had directed all hospitals empanelled with it to provide treatment under CIS, to register themselves with the NABH and comply with its norms. “All hospitals offering cashless services for allopathic treatment shall meet with the pre-accreditation entry-level standards laid down by NABH or such other standards or requirements as may be specified from the authority from time to time within a period of two years from the date of notification of these guidelines,” the IRDA had said.In last two years, it turns out that only 250 hospitals have got the NABH accreditation.
“It’s a good thing that the insurance regulatory body has given an extension now, but we want the hospitals to take this seriously and get accredited,” said Girdhar J Gyani, director-general of the Association of Healthcare Provider of India and NABH senior member.
“Hospitals have to meet the basic requirements at the entry-level accreditation to be able to empanel themselves under various insurance schemes,” another NABH member said.