In a significant move, the Uttar Pradesh government has penalized 200 private hospitals for not meeting the new standards of the Ayushman Bharat scheme. This action includes stopping payments to 100 hospitals and suspending another 100 from the scheme. The hospitals were required to migrate to the Hospital Empanelment Module (HEM) portal after meeting specific standards and passing quality assessments.
The new guidelines mandated that hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat must be listed on the HEM portal after meeting the prescribed standards. These standards include various requirements such as the hospital registration certificate, fire safety NOC, necessary infrastructure, doctors’ qualifications, and other essential documents. While over 95% of hospitals have migrated to the HEM 2.0 portal, some private hospitals failed to do so within the given timeline, leading to penalties.
To ensure standard-based and quality healthcare services for Ayushman scheme beneficiaries, the government has taken action against non-compliant hospitals in districts like Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, and others. The State Agency for Comprehensive Health and Integrated Services (SACHIS) CEO, Archana Verma, mentioned that corrective measures are being implemented to enhance transparency and accountability in health services.
The Yogi Adityanath government has also instructed all empanelled hospitals to acquire NABH quality certification. Furthermore, regular audits and monitoring are being conducted at state and district levels to prevent irregularities promptly. Hospitals have been directed to implement the ABDM-enabled HMIS system for simplified patient management through digital means, along with the phased implementation of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system.
