National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers
Medical Laboratory Programme
Medical Laboratory Programme
In January 2007 the Quality Council of India (QCI) created ‘Essential Standards for Medical Laboratories in India’. The Standards, created using a multi-stakeholder approach, balance the needs of rural and urban settings and apply to all medical testing facilities, regardless of size, capacity, sophistication or location. The Standards reflect internationally accepted processes and procedures for clinical laboratories to consistently produce accurate results. The Essential Standards incorporate a step-wise improvement process and create the foundation for compliance with ISO 15189 (www.iso.org)—the global standard for quality and competence in medical laboratories.
This Programme is for labs and similar facilities (regardless of size, sophistication and location) that conduct biological, microbiological, immunological, chemical, hematological, pathological, cytological or other examination of materials derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease. This includes labs that have only the most basic of equipment (such as a microscope) and perform the most routine tests, such as:
- Simple qualitative urine strip tests for sugar and protein.
- Microscopic analysis.
- Blood smear for MP (Malarial parasite) and for TC (total leucocyte count) and DC (differential leucocyte count), and/or blood grouping and Rh testing.
Eligible Medical Laboratories and Similar Facilities
Government Medical Testing Laboratories:
- Primary health center (PHC) laboratories
- Block primary health center (Block PHC) laboratories
- Community health center (CHC) laboratories
- Civil hospital laboratories
- District hospital laboratories
- Medical college laboratories
- Specialty medical laboratories
- Clinic laboratories
Private Medical Testing Laboratories, Collection Centres and Other Facilities:
- Private hospital laboratories
- Private clinic laboratory facilities or nursing homes
- Micro, Small, Medium and Large-volume medical laboratories
- Private medical college laboratories
- Specialty medical college laboratories
- Other private facilities where testing is done