The National Health Authority (NHA) has joined hands with the Quality Council of India (QCI) for six months to accredit and rate the Health Management Information System (HMIS) and Laboratory Information Management System (LMIS) solutions that have been integrated with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).

The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), a constituent board of the QCI, is responsible for national accreditation in the domain of healthcare, as stated by the NHA.

The 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 or features and value for money or pricing so that the prospective purchasers may get credible information, it said.

Talking about the purpose of the initiative, Dr R S Sharma, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NHA, said, “With the 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 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 the ABDM in the next six months.”

Talking about the impact of the initiative, QCI Chairman Adil Zainulbhai said the way the NHA is revolutionising public healthcare access in the country through its digital health initiatives is simply phenomenal.

“This programme for accreditation of software solutions under the ABDM for the management of hospitals, laboratories and clinics is a big leap for health tech in India. I am delighted that the QCI and the NABH will join hands with the NHA in shaping this programme.

“Accredited health tech solutions will help healthcare organisations manage their patient journeys and business more methodically in accordance with the 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 digitisation of healthcare in the world,” Zainulbhai said.

This accreditation exercise will be conducted in a phased manner. The first phase will focus on accreditation and rating of the HMIS solutions successfully integrated with the ABDM. The 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, according to a statement issued by the NHA.

As part of the initiative, the NABH and the QCI will rope in digital health experts for developing an accreditation standard for digital health solutions across various categories of products (for example HMIS, LMIS, health locker etc.) that have successfully completed their ABDM integration.

The test environment for the review parameters shall be provided by the NHA. Applicants such as public health programmes, software providers, hospitals, laboratories and healthcare aggregators, who wish to get this accreditation, are required to submit their “accreditation application” to the NABH, along with their compliance to accreditation standards and the ABDM requirements.