Two-thirds of Modicare hospitals not accredited

Only a third of the hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat or Modicare, are accredited. The latest data compiled by the government shows accredited and branded hospitals have, to a large extent, skipped the ambitious health care scheme. These are early days, an official tracking the numbers said, adding that despite the government offering additional benefits to accredited hospitals, their registration is low. In fact, hospitals without any accreditation comprise 66 per cent of the total 22,000 empanelled hospitals nationwide. Hospitals with the National Quality Assurance Programme of the World Health Organization and Joint Commission International make up for only 1 per cent each. Around 11 per cent of the hospitals empanelled have the NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers) stamp. Also, private sector hospitals have mostly stayed away from Ayushman so far as 73 per cent of the hospitals empanelled for the scheme belong to the public sector.