2Today's mantra for the success is ‘customer focus’. Especially for the service industry as their products are various services. Services can be improved in efficiency and cost effectiveness through the use of management system and advance technology.
Health industry also keeping them a breast with the technology with modern management system like ISO 9001-2008 has started providing advance medical treatment at very reasonable cost and professional administration.
There are no absolute quality standards and neither will there be one. It is relative to times and environment. At the same time if you cannot measure or monitor quality, you cannot improve. The quality management system (QMS) standards are popularly called ISO. These standards have clear objective of gaining some insight, Clinical quality improvement and monitoring patient satisfaction. With better understanding of concepts of hospital administration, enhanced patient care, social marketing, it has become imperative to seek the benefits of QMS.
ISO 9008-2000
There are five main sections of ISO
- Quality management system
- Management responsibility
- Resource management
- Product realization
- Measurement analysis and improvement
The adoption of ISO 9001-2000 is a simple process once strategic decision is made. The advantages start becoming visible immediately. There is no need to wait for certification.3
ADVANTAGES OF ISO 9001-2000
- All the records of the hospital become more systematic in respect of traceability and identification
- Fulfillment of statutory and regulatory requirements (like biomedical waste disposal, infection control, overall cleanliness, safety of staff and patients, etc.) becomes the prime focus.
- Emphasis is laid down on periodical training, and appraisal of competency of the hospital staff.
- Analysis of data with focus on improvement of system process and service-implementation becomes routine and easy.
- Internal checks in the form of internal and external audits, along with mandatory 3rd party audit, enables the managements to review the competency of the system.
- Patient satisfaction, with new goals/ targets towards improvement, becomes the aim of management.
- Utility and motivation among staff becomes more visible.
- Periodic calibration and maintenance of all equipment become a routine, giving reliable results.
- Doctors who are averse to any administrative responsibilities start taking active interest in all the non-clinical duties.
- Each single individual understands his/her role and duty, along with its importance to maintain proper functioning of the entire system.
- Many companies/third party administrator (TPA) starts approaching the hospital to get associated with it.
- Chances of Consumer Protection Act (CPA) cases become less and ISO certification the hospital is looked upon as a well-managed institute.
Gupte Hospital is the first Gynecological Hospital to be certified as ISO 9001-2008, the latest certification, quality care with concern and compassion is our goal. With continued audits (both internal and external) the management and all the staff is well oriented with the requirements of the certification, we at Gupte Hospital, are always available for guidance and help to get your Hospital ISO-certified.
Apart from ISO certification, NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals) is another prestigious recognition which Gupte Hospital wants to achieve in near future. NABH was initially only for Mega-institutions. Subsequently, with newer criteria, NABH recognition can be obtained for hospitals with less than 50 beds.
In comparison with ISO the main emphasis in NABH is patient-care and satisfaction. Majority of the requirements focus on clinical parameters and customer (i.e. patient) satisfaction and well being.
The main sections in NABH are
- Access, assessment and continuity of care (AAC).
- Care of patients (COP).
- Management of medication (MOM).
- Patients rights and education (PRE).
- Hospital infection control (HIC).
- Continuous quality improvement (CQI).
- Responsibilities of management (ROM).
- Facility management and safety (FMS).
- Human resource management (HRM).
All these main modules have 8-10 submodules in each section. All the procedures and events in the hospital need documents, including treatment protocols. The strict adherence to documented procedure (SOP – standard operating procedure) is the mainstay
The advantages of ISO become apparent in NABH recognition also, along with certain special advantages
- Strict adherence to SOP/protocol results in uniform and standardized care to all patients irrespective of the consultant.
- The SOP being reviewed periodically and changed as per the need of time, become a reflection of recent advances in managements of patients.
- A new employee in the hospital is able to work in different departments without special training as he/she is required to follow documented protocols/SOP
- It is a prestigious achievement for the hospital.
- The high standard maintained in patient-care is immensely helpful in avoiding legal problems/CPA cases.
- With NABH certification, the hospital is in a position to attract medical tourism. As everyone is aware, the cost of medical treatment in India is very low compared to foreign countries. A foreigner visiting India for medical treatment usually searches the Internet to find out NABH certified hospitals for his medical problems, as the standard is comparable to international standards.
With all these advantages, it is highly recommended that individual hospitals should go for ISO and NABH certification.