Notwithstanding, the high potential of medical tourism in the country, the National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers (NABH) has received poor response for its accreditation programme. Only seven hospitals out of the estimated 15,000 medical facilities NABH was targeting, have received accreditation in the last one and a half years. Interestingly, none of the estimated 2,000 government hospitals has even applied for the accreditation programme.

NABH was set up in 2005 as a constituent board of Quality Council of India for designing quality parameters in healthcare sector including single specialty hospitals and nursing homes. The idea behind setting up NABH was to capitalise on the potential of medical tourism in India. However, it appears that both private and the public healthcare facilities are averse to the idea of getting accreditation for maintaining high quality standards as set by NABH.

According to the ministry of external affairs, medical tourism in India is estimated to touch $2 billion by 2010. Around 2,30,000 foreigners visited India last year to avail price effective medical services.

During the past year and a half of its existence, NABH has received only 40 applications, all from private hospitals. It is yet to see any application from public hospital. The Board had prescribed a set of 10 quality parameters to be met by the medical facility. These include access, assessment and continuity of care; patient rights and education; hospital infection control; and responsibility of management.

The majority of private hospitals accredited by NABH receive a significant share of these foreign patients. “We receive 8-10 per cent of our business from foreign patients. Therefore, NABH accreditation is required,” said Daljit Singh, president (strategy & organizational development), Fortis Healthcare, which is expecting two of its facilities at Noida and Vasant Kunj to be accredited by NABH by July.

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