NABH Digital Health Standards for Hospitals
NABH came out with the First Edition of a New Accreditation Standard, the Digital Health Standards for Hospitals.
The release of such a Standard had been expected for quite some time, to set the framework for implementing the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), Government of India's most ambitious program of having all the Hospitals in the Country on a common Digital Platform. Unless the Hospitals have a Standardized and robust IT infrastructure, with a recognized Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), Electronic Health Record (EHR), Telemedicine and Patient's Portal etc., it would be impossible to have Inter-operability, i.e., ensuring an individual patient's record would be accessible, with his or her consent across the 25,000+ Hospitals empaneled with the Ayushman Bharat or any of the other Public or Private Health Insurance Companies.
This First Edition of the Standards has been released with 182 Objective Elements (OEs) spread across 8 Chapters. The Structure being very similar to the latest 5th Edition of the NABH Accreditation Standards for Hospitals.
The Objective Elements (OE) have been divided into Core (17), Commitment (69), Achievement (44) and Excellence (52). Based on the scoring achieved across these OEs, the hospital would be awarded with a Silver or Gold or Platinum Accreditation.
For your initial understanding we have tried to give you as below, a broad understanding of the new Digital Health Standards from the NABH.
1. Chapter I - Access, Assessment, and Continuity of Care (AAC)
This Chapters covers the Digitalisation of Displays at the Entry and across all areas of the Hospital, Registration and Appointment Booking process, Information provision on rates and charges, regularly updated, Billing, Lab operations, Discharges, Transfers and Referrals.
A Unique Health ID (UHID) would need to be issued to each patient visiting the Hospital that would be linked to the Patient's Records, Lab Reports, Samples collected etc. This UHID can be the Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number of the Patient itself or linked to it, along with the Aadhar Number.
2. Chapter II - Care of Patients (CoP)
This covers the Electronic Records of all the Assessments carried out of the Patients, their Vitals, EHRs, Prescriptions, Consultation notes, Orders for Tests, Doctors and Nurses notes, Care plans, Emergency services, Dietary instructions, Infections, Incidents, Sentinel events, Remote and Virtual treatments including Homecare.
3. Chapter III - Management of Medication (MoM)
This Chapter covers Inventory management of the Medicines and Consumables, Prescriptions, Dispensing, Administering, Tracking Medication Errors, Emergency Medication, etc.
4. Chapter IV - Digital Infrastructure (DIS)
This addresses the IT Infrastructure of the hospital including Security of Information, especially Patient Data, Encryptions, Power backups, Power sources, all Electronic Devices, Malware deduction, Anti-virus, Firewall, VPN, Remote location access, etc.
5. Chapter V - Digital Operations Management (DOM)
Having an IT policy for the Hospital that would cover Standardization of IT practices across all areas of the Hospital, Asset management, Disaster management, Recovery of data, Software Systems installed, Regular Updates & Upgrades, IT Audits, Archiving and Retrieving of data, End-User Authentication, Data Protection, Retracting data and Transfer to External devises, having an Email policy etc.
6. Chapter VI - Finance and Procurement Management (FPM)
Covering Supply Chain Management, Payments to Vendors and Customers, Billing systems, Indenting of materials, Automated procurement actions, Purchase order generation, Digital Systems for Patients' payments, Uniformity in Fees / Charges, Periodic updates of In-patient bills and managing Insurance Claims, etc.
7. Chapter VII - Human Resource Management (HRM)
This would cover Digitalizing the all Staff Files / Records, Monitoring Staff performance, Appraisals, Orientation of New Recruits, Training records, and provision for Online Trainings etc.
8. Chapter VIII - Information Management System (IMS)
This covers the IT Operations, Data Standardization in line with National and International Guidelines like SNOMED CT, WHO ICD, LOINC Codes for ensuring data portability and inter-operability. Industry Standards like DICOM would need to be followed.
As these Standards would become essential for all Hospitals going into the future, we urge you to quickly appoint an IT Officer and begin your journey towards Digital Transformation. The benefits would far outweigh any Investment made in building up the required IT Infrastructure & Team.
Hospital Information Management Software with NABH
We at ACME Digital, supported by TATA Communications, with their Glo Heal Solutions, we are proud to present a comprehensive Hospital Information Management System Software (HIMS) designed to seamlessly digitize your hospital operations while ensuring adherence to the digital standards set forth by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH). Learn More >>>
If you need any help in this Digital Transformation process or in the Implementation and Accreditation under the NABH Digital Health Standards,
Please fill up the form below. One of our Senior Team Members will contact you at the earliest.