Digital Health Certification Programme
Digital health represents a significant transformation in the healthcare sector, driven by the integration of advanced technologies and data-centric solutions. It has the potential to enhance access to quality healthcare, streamline processes, improve service delivery, and lower costs. These innovations have reshaped patient care by enabling hospitals to offer more personalized and efficient services while also empowering individuals to manage their health effectively.
The Digital Health Certification Programme is a structured initiative designed to evaluate and promote the adoption of digital health in entry-level certified HCOs/SHCOs. NABH has established dedicated chapters, standards, and objective elements for the Digital Health Certification Program. The Digital Health Certification Standards consist of 8 chapters, 38 standards, and 84 objective elements, which collectively determine the Silver level digital maturity of a healthcare facility.
| Table 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At the time of first accreditation | Core | Commitment | Achievement | Excellence |
| Silver Level | 100% | 60% | NA | NA |
Chapters covering administrative, clinical, and technical aspects:
- Access, Assessment and Continuity of Care (AAC)
- Care of Patients (COP)
- Management of Medication (MOM)
- Digital Infrastructure (DIS)
- Digital Operations Management (DOM)
- Finance and Procurement Management (FPM)
- Human Resources Management (HRM)
- Information Management System (IMS)
- Helps define “how to” prioritize IT Spending – From Core to Excellence objective elements
- Helps benchmark current Digital capabilities – Vis-à-vis NABH Digital Health Standards
- Brings awareness among clinical staff – Helps improve adoption of Electronic Medical Record
- Helps build resilience – DIS (Digital Infrastructure), DOM (Digital Operations Management) & IMS ( Information Management System) Chapters provide a clear blueprint for cybersecurity and IT infrastructure resilience
- Patient safety & Trust: COP (Care of Patients) chapter helps define expectations around ensuring quality care to Patients and how technology can be leveraged for the same
- Support for National Health Initiatives – The implementation of DHS aligns with National Health Initiatives, such as the Digital India Program, National Health Policy, ABDM & DPDP by promoting the integration of digital technologies in healthcare.
Entry-level hospitals/SHCOs can initially apply only for Silver Maturity Level Certification and will become eligible to apply for Gold/Platinum after 2 years of DHS Silver certification.
Healthcare organizations seeking Digital Health Certification can apply online by registering through the NABH website on the HOPE portal
For detailed guidelines, please refer to the general information brochure available on the Digital Health Certification page of the NABH website
NABH Secretariat organizes training sessions on understanding NABH Digital Health standards and implementing them in organizations. These sessions are taken by faculty from NABH who are senior assessors. The details of these trainings, dates, venue, and fee information are available on the NABH website. Apart from this, guidance material is available on the
“Resource” page of the NABH web Portal.
Kindly visit the below link to attend training programs being conducted by NABH.
- Registration: Hospitals register on the HOPE Portal and upload required documents.
- Hospital Information: Provide details on ownership, infrastructure, and capacity.
- Self-Assessment: Submit compliance reports against Digital Health Standards.
- Policies & Procedures: Upload policies on data security, telemedicine, EHR, and interoperability.
- Personnel & Training: List key staff details and digital health training records.
- Fee Payment: Pay certification fees as per hospital size and services.
- Onsite Assessment: Assessors verify compliance; hospitals address any non-conformities
What is the validity period of Entry Level Certification ?
The validity of the Entry Level Certification is for 2 years.
What is the fee structure?
- NABH has waived off “Application Fee” for entry-level Hospitals/SHCOs applying for DHS (Silver Maturity Level)
- NABH is also launching an “Early Adopters” program for the first 300 entry-level Hospitals/SHCOs embarking on their certification journey by subsidizing the first-year annual fee by 50%.
| Bed Category | DHS Annual Fee (INR) | GST (18%) | Total Fee (INR) | DHS Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 20 | ₹10,000 | ₹1,800 | ₹11,800 | Silver Only |
| 21 to 50 | ₹20,000 | ₹3,600 | ₹23,600 | Silver Only |
| 51 to 100 | ₹20,000 | ₹3,600 | ₹23,600 | Silver Only |
| 101 to 300 | ₹35,000 | ₹6,300 | ₹41,300 | Silver Only |
| 301 to 500 | ₹50,000 | ₹9,000 | ₹59,000 | Silver Only |
| 501 & above | ₹50,000 | ₹9,000 | ₹59,000 | Silver Only |
What is self-assessment toolkit and what approach can we use towards it?
Approach for SAT
- Assign a Dedicated Team:
- Establish a specialized team responsible for overseeing the NABH compliance process.
- Ensure team members have a clear understanding of NABH standards.
- Designate roles within the team for documentation, testing, and communication.
- Self-Assessment and Scoring:
-
- For features that are in the development stage or not fully functional, score them as “partially met” (5).
- Document the current status and planned enhancements/rectifications for these features.
- In case the feature is not present at all and is not a part of future plans, please mark it as “Not Met” (0).
- For certain objective elements, an option of “N/A” has been provided. This is applicable only in the case of some functionalities and features that are relatively uncommon. In case your system does not have these features, please mark them as “N/A”. This will not be counted in the final scoring and will have no implications on the overall SAT score.
- Stakeholder Involvement:
-
- Involve all relevant stakeholders, such as IT, clinical staff, and administrative personnel, etc. during the Self-Assessment Testing (SAT).
- Ensure stakeholders provide feedback and validate that the system meets the relevant NABH standards.
- Reference NABH Standards and Documentation:
-
- Regularly refer to NABH standards, interpretations, and test cases throughout the application and testing process.
- Ensure that all team members are familiar with these documents and understand their relevance to the standards
- Use these references as a checklist to ensure compliance with each standard.
- Pre-Testing Preparation:
-
- Thoroughly read through the NABH standards beforehand to fully understand the requirements.