Tamil Nadu government simplifies registration process for private hospitals

The Tamil Nadu government has approved reforms to simplify the registration and renewal process for medical institutions under the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments (Regulations) Rules, 2018. This has come at a time when several private hospitals waiting for renewal after the five-year validity under the Tamil Nadu Clinical Establishments Act (TNCEA) came to an end.

In its order, the Health Department listed challenges in the existing procedure for registration/renewal of medical institutions under the rules. There were “multiple unnecessary or cumbersome fields during the application process” such as vague equipment list and the requirement to itemise every support and paramedical staff member. The process of uploading professional certificates for doctors, nurses and pharmacists was described as cumbersome and repetitive. Hospitals were also required to submit redundant documentation for in-house services such as ambulance and laboratory facilities. Additionally, the current TNCEA online portal was often slow and experienced technical glitches, leading to delays for applicants during registration and renewal, it noted.

In a bid to simplify the registration/renewal of medical institutions, the government has now decided to formally recognise accreditations from the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers, National Quality Assurance Standards, Joint Commission International, and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories as sufficient for the registration and renewal of clinical establishment licenses under the TNCEA to “proactively eliminate administrative redundancies.” Applications can be submitted online and auto-verified against accreditation databases, following which registration certificates will be generated digitally through the TNCEA portal.

A separate pathway will be available for registration/renewal of clinical establishments without accreditation. The application process is being integrated onto the e-sevai platform.

The Department is also introducing a technology-driven inspection process that will enable virtual site visits by inspectors. The inspector will examine geo-tagged photos and videos with precise timestamps uploaded by the applicants.

To facilitate this, it was decided to introduce a dedicated tab to be integrated within the online application form, enabling applicants to upload geo-tagged and time-stamped photographic and video of the clinical establishment, the order said.

This will be limited to clinical establishments that have a total built-up area of less than 3,000 square feet. If the process of online perusal is not completed within the limitation period of 30 days, the verification is deemed to be approved by the concerned authority. Larger establishments will have physical site inspections.

Other measures include a real-time adaptive document checklist that would avoid submission of irrelevant documents, laboratory categorisation into basic, medium and advanced tiers and QR-coded digital certificates.

N.R.T.R. Thiagarajan, State president-elect, Indian Medical Association-Tamil Nadu, said there are around 30,000 hospitals including clinics in Tamil Nadu. “A lot of hospitals are waiting for renewal of registration after the five year validity issued in 2019/2020 ended in 2024/2025. These reforms to simplify the processes are good, and we look forward to its implementation. The current portal faces technical snags. We hope the online portal works well and the entire process is fully automated and hassle-free. If implemented immediately, works for renewal of registration can be taken up by hospitals,” he added.