An expert committee that the Planning Commission constituted to suggest new methods for universal health coverage has called for a National Health Regulatory and Development Authority (NHRDA) to regulate and monitor public and private healthcare providers.NHRDA, with enforcement and complaint redressal powers, will oversee contracts, accredit health care providers, develop ethical standards for care delivery, enforce patient’s charter of rights and take other measures to provide universal healthcare, according to the panels’ study. The high-level expert group, headed by Public Health Foundation of India president K Srinath Reddy, submitted the report to the Planning Commission on Monday.
According to sources, the Planning Commission has sought the views of private healthcare providers, health activists and medical professionals on the report before finalising it. The approved inputs will get reflected in the final Plan document of the Commission, which is expected by March 2012.
NHRDA will be responsible for formulating legal and regulatory norms and standard treatment guidelines and management protocols for the proposed National Health Package (for every citizen) to control entry, quality, quantity and price of healthcare delivery.
The expert group wants the national authority to be linked to similar state-level institutions and to the ombudsperson at the district level, especially to handle grievance redressal.
According to the proposal, NHRDA will have three distinct functional arms – the system support unit, the national health and medical facilities accreditation unit and a health system evaluation unit.
The system support unit will be responsible for developing standard treatment guidelines, management protocols and quality assurance methods for the UHC system. It will also develop the legal, financial and regulatory norms as well as a management information system for the universal health care system.
The National Health and Medical Facilities Accreditation Unit will be responsible for the mandatory accreditation of all allopathic and AYUSH health care providers in both public and private sectors as well as for all health and medical facilities. This accreditation facility housed within the NHRDA will define standards for health care facilities and help them adopt and use management technologies.
A key function of this Unit will be to ensure meaningful use of allocated resources and special focus should be given to information technology resources.
The Health System Evaluation Unit is meant for independent evaluation of the performance of both public and private health services at all levels after establishing systems to get real time data for performance monitoring of inputs, outputs and outcomes, the report said.
As reported in: http://business-standard.com/india/news/panel-wants-body-to-regulate-monitor-healthcare-providers/456996/