What is Healthcare Professionals Registry? Why is it important?

Posted on: Dec 26, 2022 | | Written by:

What is Healthcare Professionals Registry? Why is it important?

Published on December 26, 2022. EST READ TIME: 4 minutes

Good health is universally acknowledged as a basic human right. To make quality healthcare accessible to all, insurance companies have continually been seeking ways and means to increase the use of health insurance. And in this regard, the IRDAI has recently issuedseveral guidelines to insurance providers. One of these involves using the national Healthcare Professionals Registry or HPR to build a network of doctors for healthcare services in the country. In this post, we will understand what the HPR truly means, what its impact is likely to be and how you, as a consumer, stand to benefit from it.

What is the Health Professionals Registry (HPR)?

The national Healthcare Professionals Registry is a Central Government initiative. It is envisaged to be a comprehensive, verified repository of healthcare practitioners, providing modern as well as traditional medicine across the country. The broadly defined mission of the HPR is public welfare. It aims to provide the public with a trustworthy list of medical professionals across the country to facilitate the dissemination of timely and quality healthcare services nationwide. Any healthcare professional can register under HPR. An ID will be created using Aadhar or other recognised KYC, along with requisite medical registrations and qualifications.

The vision of the HPR is threefold:

● In accordance with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, HPR seeks to onboard doctors and other healthcare workers into India’s growing digital health ecosystem

● To provide the public with a genuine and verified list of medical practitioners, suitably certified to practise medicine across the country, with competence and ethical compliance

● To increase convenience and interoperability between various specialisations, disciplines, professionals and services

Latest News Update

According to multiple news reports, the latest circular by IRDAI states that the Healthcare Professionals Registry is a valuable resource that can be utilised by both the General and Health Insurers who provide health insurance policies to expand their existing networks of physicians/doctors and healthcare experts who offer outpatient care and other medical services.The circular has directed the insurance providers to leverage the Healthcare Professionals Registry to build a network of doctors for healthcare services. The circular further suggests that healthcare insurers should capture HPR ID as verification to authenticate the practitioners while issuing or renewing medical malpractice policies under professional indemnity cover.

The Rationale behind IRDAI’s directive

The insurance regulator’s directive about leveraging the Healthcare Professionals Registry to build a network of doctors for healthcare services has many reasons. This directive is likely to have a positive impact on Mediclaim policy, critical illness cover and health insurance plans as a whole.

● To add another level of validation in the issuance of medical malpractice policies:

This will help insurance companies to leverage the HPR ID of doctors and other medical professionals as verification while issuing/renewing medical malpractice policies under professional indemnity cover. Only properly certified medical practitioners can create an HPR ID; therefore, this step will add another layer of authentication, making the insurance process safer and more transparent.

● To encourage more medical practitioners to register for an HPR:

If an HPR ID becomes compulsory for issuing insurance to doctors, more and more will be encouraged to join the registry. This will benefit the practitioners by giving them access to a secure central government database, which also adds to their credentials and reputation.

● To increase interoperability between doctors, medical networks, hospitals and insurers:

One of the stated objectives of the National Health Authority’s HPR is to increase interoperability, networking and communication across disciplines, professionals, medical networks, insurers and hospitals. This will help create a robust medical infrastructure digitally. It will also add convenience to all involved, resulting in the public good.

● To help patients gain access to quality healthcare pros:

One of the main reasons people avail of health insurance plans is because, through their insurers, they have access to quality healthcare facilities. Using the HPR to build a network of doctors will also help patients gain access to the best certified and verified doctors through their medical insurance plans.

Conclusion

The IRDAI’s latest directive is a step in the right direction to make Universal Healthcare access a reality. The Healthcare Professionals Registry will help insurance companies provide medical malpractice insurance in a more secure and transparent manner. Furthermore, this will see more and more doctors and healthcare professionals registering on the HPR. Ultimately this move will enable greater access to quality care for insurance policyholders.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

Health Insurance –How to Make Claims from Two Insurance Companies

Make Your Health Insurance Inflation-Proof with These Tips

Important Features to Check Before Buying Critical Illness Insurance

IRDAI Reduces the Number of Health Insurance Returns that Insurers can File

What are the Ways to Get Maximum Claim from Your Health Policy?