QUALITY ACCREDITATION OF DENTAL CLINICS: NEED OF THE HOUR (PART 3) ADDRESSING REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO CARE OF PATIENTS

Abstract

This is the third article in the series of articles ‘Quality Accreditation of Dental Clinics – Need of the hour’. As described in the first article (Published in JIDA May 2020 issue) there are 10 chapters in NABH standards for Dental Healthcare Service Providers (DHSP). First chapter ‘Access, Assessment & Continuity of Care’ (AAC) was described in JIDA June 2020 issue. ‘Care Of Patients’ (COP) is the second chapter. Addressing accreditation standards and implementing them in day-to-day practices is the primary objective in the preparation of DHSP for accreditation. Involvement of clinical staff is needed to address requirements of this chapter; as this chapter describes the clinical aspects of care for patients under dental treatment. This expects to provide uniform care to all patients. This chapter covers aspects related to legal guidelines, clinical guidelines, emergency services in dental practice, dental laboratory, use of local anaesthesia and sedation in dentistry. Aim of this article was to provide brief idea about the criteria required to fulfill in order to address requirements related to the second chapter of NABH i.e. COP. KEY WORDS: Quality Accreditations, Dental Clinics, NABH, COP