NABH 6th Edition, answered plainly
If your question is not here, ask us directly — we answer these for hospital quality teams every week.
What is the NABH 6th Edition and when did it take effect?
The 6th Edition of the NABH accreditation standards for hospitals was launched in September 2024 and came into effect on 1 January 2025. From that date, new accreditation applications are assessed against the 6th Edition. It places noticeably more weight on digital health adoption than earlier editions.
How many chapters, standards and objective elements does it have?
Ten chapters - five patient-centric (AAC, COP, MOM, PRE, IPC) and five organisation-centric (PSQ, ROM, FMS, HRM, IMS) - with about a hundred standards and roughly 639 objective elements. Each objective element is graded Core, Commitment, Achievement or Excellence.
Does NABHDesk replace the official NABH standard book?
No. NABHDesk gives you plain-language implementation guidance, evidence tracking and scoring against every objective element. Hospitals should still work from the official NABH publication, which remains the authoritative source.
Do we need Caresoft HIS to use it?
No. NABHDesk works standalone. If you run Caresoft HIS, indicator data flows in automatically. Any other HIS can connect through our documented API, and hospitals with neither can upload prepared Excel or CSV files.
Who in the hospital uses it day to day?
Typically the quality manager and accreditation coordinator drive it, department heads own their objective elements and SOPs, and nursing, IPC, pharmacy, biomedical and HR teams file their own data. There are three access levels so each person sees only what they need.
Can it be used for SHCO or Entry Level certification?
Yes. The programme is selected per hospital, and the objective element set, committee list and indicator set adjust to that programme.