HCAH Becomes India’s First Accredited Home Healthcare Provider, Awarded The ‘Mark of Sustained Quality’ by QAI

When it comes to number of hospital beds and doctors, India is way below WHO recommendations. Despite home healthcare being an immediate and cost-effective solution to counter this shortage, home healthcare industry is still only about 2% of the total Indian healthcare industry. Standardization can revolutionise the home healthcare industry by making it more affordable and increasing its acceptance amongst the masses. The pioneer of ICU at home and critical care at home in India, HealthCare atHOME (HCAH), have become the first home healthcare solution provider to be accredited QAI for their home healthcare solutions. They have been awarded the ‘Mark of Sustained Quality’ for maintaining high quality services to their patients at the comfort of their home, by QAI (Quality and Accreditation Institute) for a period of 3 years starting January 2019. The accreditation is another feather in HealthCare atHOME’s hat which is India’s largest home healthcare company with 4 lakh+ patients in 70+ cities, 25000+ ICU days and 20000+ onco/ immunological procedures.

Commenting on the achievement, Vivek Srivastava, Co-Founder and CEO of HCAH says, “Home healthcare is the future of Indian healthcare industry. Standardisation is the key to its sustainable growth and acceptance by hospitals, doctors and patients alike. Quality and Accreditation Institute’s initiative of setting standardisation norms and providing accreditation to deserving organisations is the need of the hour and a very welcome step. HCAH has always endeavoured to be a leader in setting and following quality benchmarks in India. Becoming India’s first home healthcare provider to receive QAI’s accreditation and mark of sustained quality is a big step for HCAH in this direction.” Founded in 2012, from Promoters of Dabur and Founders of HAH, UK, HCAH pioneered specialty critical care in India and now offers specialised packages for organ transplant, cardio, neuro and nephron specialties. HealthCare atHOME provides savings upto INR 30,000 per day to their patients and also reduce hospital re-admissions. With an overall re-admission rate of 19.4%, HCAH’s re-admission rate is significantly lower than those of non-availers or home healthcare which stands at 24.5%.

QAI is an institutional member of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). It was set up to create an ecosystem of education, training, quality improvement and accreditation. Dr. Gaurav Thukral, COO of HealthCare atHOME was closely involved in HCAH’s audit by QAI before their accreditation. Commenting on the process, Dr. Thukral says, “QAI designed home healthcare standards with support of a Technical Committee which comprised of health industry leaders and stalwarts of home healthcare in India. The standards rely on measurable criteria to ensure proper governance, competent human resources, adequate facility, appropriate information management, quality improvement opportunities and safe practices. The standards have been approved by the Board of QAI’s Centre for Accreditation

of Health & Social Care which is chaired by Prof. Dr. M. C. Mishra, former director of AIIMS, New Delhi. The organization accredits Home Health Care organizations by evaluating them on 69 standards and 278 parameters, spread across 9 chapters. We respect the audit process and congratulate QAI on taking this much needing step towards standardization of home healthcare. It is a welcome move for the industry.”

QAI is the brainchild of Dr. B K Rana who is its founding CEO. Dr. Rana, former Director of NABH, says, “Success of healthcare solutions relies on quality. At QAI we understand that home healthcare is Indian healthcare’s future. Hence, one of the first standardisation modules that we created was for home healthcare. HealthCare atHOME is a leader in India’s home healthcare industry. Not only have they pioneered the concept, they are still leading the way with exceptional innovations and quality standards. QAI will continue to define standards of healthcare in India and recognize organisations like HCAH who meet the standards.”

QAI’s initiative of setting standardization norms and providing accreditation to deserving organisations is the need of the hour and the key to sustainable growth for the industry. It can lead to home healthcare solutions being covered by health insurance and home healthcare becoming even more affordable for the masses. – MB Bureau