Rising medication, diagnostic errors and patient safety-related issues are creating the need for rigorous standards in the Indian healthcare system. India’s healthcare industry, expected to reach $160 billion by 2017 or almost double from 2008 according to market watchers, has seen hospitals and clinics compromise safety-related issues with patients.

This opens opportunities for improving standards. “There is always a need for an external evaluator to come in and make safety assessments and establish rigorous standards of care for providing better healthcare,” Paula Wilson, President and CEO of Joint Commission International (JCI) told BusinessLine .

JCI provides international accreditation, certification and other advisory services to hospitals and clinics all over the world. There are other standards such as NABH for the healthcare industry.

“People have often not paid enough attention to healthcare standards,” adds Wilson. As an example she cites the aviation industry, where stringent standards have resulted in minimal errors. “It is one error in a million in the aviation industry whereas across the world, 1 in 300 patients are subject to medical errors,” she says.

Industry watchers say certification will impact quality of services and the brand equity of a hospital. “ If we ascribe to these standards then more people will be confident of going to a particular hospital or clinic,” said Harish Pillai, CEO, Aster Medcity.

Such certification will also enhance the brand equity of hospitals looking at medical tourism, , a doctor from a leading hospital said. There are different levels of certification involved for various healthcare companies (depending on their size). In India, 22 organisations have been JCI certified, according to Prabhu Vinayagam, MD, APAC of JCI.

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