Soon, hospitals will be certified for being patient-friendly. To ensure that hospitals are patient-centric, the Association of Healthcare Providers (India) has launched ‘patient friendly standards’ for healthcare organisations.
“We want hospitals to bring in the human touch to their healthcare service. It is important to make a patient feel comfortable and safe in the hospital. ACME Consulting is the authorised technical support partner to help hospitals put in place these standards. Based on an inspection, AHPI will certify the hospitals for being patient-friendly,” Girdhar J. Gyani, director general of AHPI, said.
The standards, which were launched in Karnataka recently, were brought to Chennai on Friday.
Nearly 42 hospitals participated in the launch.
AHPI plans to give a copy of the standards to the State governments to cover government hospitals too.
The standards cover various aspects including structure, process, outcome, safety, legal and ethical.
They define the structural requirements right from the point of entry to all aspects of registration, admission, clinical care, stay amenities, and communication aspects on care and discharge.
Some of the features include adequate parking, good ambience, smooth processes for out-patient and in-patient registration, providing information to patients and clarifying all important aspects of the disease process and expected costs of treatment.
Request for reducing electricity chargesDr. Gyani said they would soon meet the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to request a reduction in electricity charges for hospitals. They would also urge the Centre to cut down the import duty on biomedical equipment, which is 12 per cent now, as well as land cost, he said.
Among others, B.G. Menon, managing director of Acme Consulting, Harish Manian, facility director of Fortis Malar, and Ram Babu, general manager of Vijaya Hospital, spoke on the occasion.
