National Health Authority & Quality Council of India join hands to accredit ABDM compliant healthcare solutions like HMIS and LMIS
NABH, QCI will accredit and rate the ABDM
integrated healthcare solutions on various parameters, that will enable a
prospective buyer (hospital/ lab) to make an informed decision/choice
The National Health
Authority (NHA) has onboarded the Quality Council of India (QCI) for six months
to accredit and rate HMIS (Health Management Information System)/ LMIS
(Laboratory Information Management System) solutions that have integrated with
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). The National Accreditation Board for
Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), the constituent board of QCI is
responsible for national accreditation in the domain of healthcare. NABH will
undertake the responsibility of accrediting and rating the ABDM compliant
solutions on various parameters, including ease of usage, user interface,
pricing, number of modules/features and value for money/pricing so that
prospective purchasers may get credible information.
Talking about the purpose of this initiative, Dr RS Sharma, CEO, NHA
said – “With ABDM, we aim to encourage innovations by streamlining delivery of
health tech services in a significant way. We plan to develop a framework to
ensure that ABDM compliant digital healthcare solutions are accredited and
rated and to adequate information is available to consumers for choosing one
solution over another. For this, we are partnering with the QCI to develop a
review plan and complete the accreditation and review of at least 10 HMIS
solutions (public and private) that have successfully integrated with ABDM in
the next six months.”
Addressing the impact of the initiative, Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI
said – “The way NHA is revolutionizing public healthcare access in India through
its digital health initiatives is simply phenomenal. This programme for
accreditation of software solutions under ABDM for management of hospitals,
labs, and clinics is a big leap for health tech in India. I am delighted that
QCI & NABH will join hands with the NHA in shaping this programme.
Accredited health tech solutions will help healthcare organizations manage
their patient journeys and business more methodically in accordance with ABDM
standards. And ultimately, this initiative will help the citizens of India get
better and more timely healthcare and help India become one of the leaders in
digitization of healthcare in the world”
This accreditation exercise will be conducted in a phased manner. Phase
I shall focus on accreditation and rating of HMIS solutions successfully
integrated with ABDM. Subsequent phases shall include other subjective
parameters and other categories of healthcare solutions like LMIS, Health
Lockers, Health Tech, PHR (Personal Health Records) apps etc.
As part of this initiative, NABH, QCI will onboard digital health
experts for developing an accreditation standard for digital health solutions
across various categories of products (e.g., HMIS, LMIS, Health Locker etc.)
that have successfully completed their ABDM integration. The test environment
for the review parameters shall be provided by NHA. Applicants like public
health programs, software providers, hospitals, labs, healthcare aggregators
etc. who wish to get this accreditation are required to submit their
‘Accreditation Application’ to NABH along with their compliance to
accreditation standards and the ABDM requirements.
The solutions shall be reviewed on the finalized accreditation standards
(based on international standards in the healthcare software ecosystem as well
as the indicative list of technical standards provided by NHA). An independent
team of experts engaged by QCI will then rate the accredited healthcare
solutions and monitor them periodically for their operational performance,
compliance with minimum viable requirement as per guidelines and maintenance of
standards, and user experience. Users will also be able to submit their
feedback which will be added to the rating mechanism. The ratings and reviews
for the solutions shall be published on ABDM Website along with the platform
suggested by QCI.
With this initiative, NHA aims to enable a prospective buyer to make an
informed decision by comparing healthcare solutions that fall under the same
category (like HMIS, LMIS, health locker, health tech etc.). The QCI is an
autonomous body instituted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government
of India with the objective to provide a credible, reliable mechanism for third
party assessment of products, services and processes which is accepted and
recognized globally.
More details on ABDM compliant digital healthcare solutions available
here: https://abdm.gov.in/our-partners