Health ministry launches dashboard to aid quick monitoring of public health standards compliance

New Delhi, June 28 (PTI)The Union Health Ministry on Friday launched a dashboard that will aid the national, state and district health facilities in quickly monitoring compliance with respect to Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) and taking action accordingly.
     It also rolled out a virtual National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) assessment for Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAM) and a spot food licence and registration initiative for food vendors.
     Union ministers of state for health and family welfare, Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav and Anupriya Singh Patel, unveiled these three initiatives which will play a major role in improving the quality of healthcare services and promoting the ease of doing business in India.
     The launch of the spot food licence initiative is a ground-breaking new functionality for the instant issuance of licenses and registrations through the Food Safety and Compliance System (FoSCoS).
     FoSCoS is a state-of-the-art, pan-India IT platform designed to address all food safety regulatory needs. This innovative system simplifies the licensing and registration processes, offering an enhanced user experience.
     Addressing the session, Jadhav said the launch of these important initiatives is part of a continuation of the government's effort to provide 'Healthcare for All' and promote wellness.
     He highlighted the Union government's achievements in establishing over 1.73 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, doubling the number of medical colleges since 2014, increasing the number of AIIMS from seven to 23 and more than doubling the number of PG and MBBS seats since 2014.
     "The government is committed to strengthening the healthcare system with more skilled human resources and quality infrastructure that can tackle both present and future medical challenges", he stated.
     Patel stated that the launch of the virtual NQAS assessment and dashboard as well as the release of the two documents will lead to improvement in providing quality of healthcare in public health facilities, while the launch of the spot food licence will enhance the ease of doing business in India.
     The virtual certification of Ayushman Arogya Mandir Sub-centres (AAM-SC) represents a significant innovation in the quality assurance framework for public health facilities, the ministry said in a statement.
     Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AAM have been established and operationalised to provide comprehensive and accessible healthcare services for all citizens, it stated.
     Currently, more than 1,70,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are operational nationwide. Led by Community Health Officers, the primary healthcare teams at AAM are trained to manage initial care, triage and refer patients to appropriate facilities for further treatment.
     This approach reduces the burden on secondary and tertiary care facilities by providing primary care services closer to the community with adequate referral linkages.
     The early identification and management of health issues help prevent disease progression, necessitating advanced care, the statement said.
     To ensure that every citizen receives quality health services, NQAS was developed for district hospitals, community health centres, rural and urban primary healthcare centres and AAM-SC with the goal of full compliance by 2026.
     Online evaluations have been introduced to streamline the assessment process, involving virtual tours and interactions with patients, staff and community members.
     Each healthcare facility will undergo a rigorous multi-level assessment process to achieve quality certification, evaluated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare-empanelled National Quality Assurance Standard Assessors.
     Ensuring access to high-quality diagnostic tests is crucial for delivering life-saving treatments and effective disease prevention. Without robust laboratory services in public health facilities, patients often resort to private facilities, incurring significant out-of-pocket expenses and financial strain.
     The NQAS for lntegrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHLs) has been developed to ensure consistent, precise and safe laboratory testing processes.
     These standards aim to provide quality services to patients and healthcare providers, stimulate district and block-level public health laboratories to demonstrate competency, and continually maintain and improve quality standards.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)