IRDAI plans to standardize health services through rating of hospitals

For insurance claims, the IRDAI is now planning the standardisation of health services through rating of hospitals. According to official sources, For the purpose of rating the hospitals, the IRDAI is in consultation with National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH). The rating mechanism will help the insurance companies in charging on the basis of grades based on facilities like number of doctors or equipment in the hospital. The regulator is also in discussions with insurance firms for the rating mechanism. “At present, an insurer doesn’t have any control over the hospital ecosystem. To a large extent, rating will be an indication of the quality of its services. The idea is still at a discussions stage, and details on what parameters the rating will be based upon needs to be seen,” said Mayank Bathwal, CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance. “We had some discussions with the regulator on rating of hospitals. It will be quite beneficial for the sector” said Sanjay Datta, Chief, Underwriting, Claims, Reinsurance & Actuary, ICICI Lombard.