Apollo TeleHealth has become the first ever organisation in the world to attain the certification of ISO 13131:2021 presented by the British Standards Institution (BSI). The release of ISO 13131:2021 provides direction with a focus on the quality and risk management methods required to define guidelines for distinct remote health and care services. ISO 13131:2021 belongs to a class of standards that provides flexible, general guidelines that support innovation in healthcare.
While the ISO 13131:2021 offers recommendations on standards that can be used to help in the development of telehealth services, the responsibility for developing appropriate guidelines for each health service remains with each organisation. Achieving certification of this standard showcases a provider’s capability of managing quality, safety, and patient data security effectively in this new age of telehealth service provisions.
“Our business is providing medical care and assistance to millions of people around the country and worldwide. Therefore, it is vital that we employ strict processes to ensure quality in the delivery of telehealth services. We invest heavily in quality programmes and this certification recognises our industry leadership in developing and deploying user-friendly technological solutions and the high standard for medical services across our platform. By achieving certification of ISO 13131:2021, Apollo TeleHealth has demonstrated that it has adopted best practice for its telehealth services, a requirement for delivering safe healthcare from a distance” said Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Founder and Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group.
Speaking of this new achievement, Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said “As early as 1999, the Apollo Hospital Group decided to extend its outreach and initiated the process of providing healthcare to suburban and rural India by adopting Information and Communication Technology through the telemedicine platform. After more than two decades, Apollo TeleHealth (ATH) is the oldest and largest multispecialty telemedicine network with more than 13 million lives touched. Today, ATH has emerged as India’s single largest turnkey provider in the area of telemedicine with 800+ public health centres, 100+ franchised teleclinics and point of presence through 350,000 common service centres, and rapidly expanding to other geographies. It has brought healthcare within the reach of every consumer by the usage of the latest technologies, thereby Enabling Connected Health and Continuum of Care. The achievement of this new ISO standard is a reflection of the dedication, effort and perseverance of everyone associated with ATH to make it the global pioneer in telemedicine.”
While most countries have national safety and quality health service standards, but Apollo TeleHealth has advanced to encompass how to govern remote delivery of health and care services – further emphasizing the role of this important standard. ISO 13131:2021.
“By achieving the ISO 13131:2021 certification, ATH has demonstrated that it will work tirelessly to achieve the quality standards that its clients, candidates, employees and all stakeholders demand. With this certification, ATH’s technology, people and process have been vetted against rigid quality standards outlined by ISO. I am extremely proud of my team for their achievement, which proves theirs and the company’s commitment to ensuring quality and providing the best possible service to urban and rural populations worldwide. The ongoing crisis has made telemedicine mainstream. We were geared to meet the challenges and provide teleconsultations to thousands of patients. Through our service delivery model, we were successfully able to increase access to quality healthcare at a time when barriers were at an all-time high. We are dedicated to constant improvement and development and already thinking in terms of a post-COVID telemedicine landscape and working vigorously towards it” said Mr. Vikram Thaploo, CEO, Apollo TeleHealth.
