Hyderabad: The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers is insisting that Ayurvedic doctors provide evidence-based practice to give confidence to insurance companies to provide cover for a range of treatments. This includes treatment under Ayurveda for conditions like infertility, cervical spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, sinusitis, migraine, paralysis and chronic skin diseases.
There are not more than 50 Aryurvedic hospitals that are accredited by the NABH. The ministry of Ayush orders to allow coverage for Ayurvedic treatment based on the chronic condition of the disease and associated complications which will make it applicable for insurance policies. Dr Saji D’souza, a member of the expert panel committee of department of Ayush, said, “These policies are for in-patients and day-care procedures. They were finalised after major brainstorming as this is the first time that benchmark rates had to be set and interventions streamlined.”
He said that to ensure there is confidence for Ayurveda treatment, doctors were opting for evidence-based approach in treatment modalities so that the people and the industry benefit. The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority has asked companies like ICICI, Apollo Munich, Cholamandalam, HDFC, Star Health and public-owned service providers to provide coverage for Ayurveda treatments.
Dr Mallu Prasad, member of Central Council of Indian Medicine, said, “Treatment methods in Ayurveda differ as they are focused more on uprooting the disease rather than temporarily tackling the symptoms. Hence, for these treatments, surgical methods are not used. Identifying and streamlining the system for insurance policies has to be worked out accordingly.”
