Accreditation Standards for Vision Center in India

Quality is considered to be an important pillar to achieve the agenda of ‘Universal Health Coverage’ (UHC). With the ultimate objective of furthering the agenda of Integrated People-Centered Eye Care through strengthening quality of primary eye care services, Quality & Accreditation Institute has developed and rolled out the Accreditation Standards for Vision Centers, the first of its kind in the world. This effort was facilitated by Orbis and its partner network in India. Technical inputs on developing the scope of services of vision centers were taken from these eye hospitals operating vision centers, followed by inputs on draft standards and public consultation. These accreditation standards will ensure a minimum level of service quality at the vision centers, which are being opened up in large numbers in rural pockets by several organizations – bringing in the much-needed emphasis on quality of services. The standards covers areas such as Governance & Leadership, Facility & Risk Management, Human Resource Management, Information Management System, Continual Quality Improvement, Patient Assessment and Care, Patient Rights & Education, Medical Management & Safety, and Hygiene & Infection Control. Adopting thee standards will ensure that Universal Health Coverage is not only limited to access to care, rather access to quality and safe care.