Kolkata: Care IVF first in Eastern India to win dual accreditation, ISO and ASIC

ASIC is a well-known body for performing quality audits in the health care industry.

The objectives of the ASIC standard for IVF clinics are -- to create measurable and practical standards for IVF centers in terms of infrastructure and equipment, follow standard operating procedures for IVF centers,  assist doctors in creation of a safe and Infection-free environment and lastly to enhance patient safety and make the processes more user friendly.

Dr Rajeev Agarwal, Clinical Director Care IVF said, “Care IVF has always felt the need to be at par with the international community in maintaining the best standards and has adopted standard operation protocols conforming to the practices followed globally to ensure the best of results."

"The ASIC auditing was extensive, and covered not just the laboratory and medical management areas but also patient safety, disaster management, patient relations, grievance handling, counseling, administrative and HR protocols. The ASIC certification proved that that the clinic was already 99% prepared and the audit helped us improve and achieve 100% benchmark," said Dr Agarwal.

All IVF clinics in India are required to be registered with the National Registry for IVF Clinics and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) banks managed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the body that regulates the Indian fertility industry and follow the clinical guidelines laid down by the Council.

With the fast expanding fertility care industry, there was an overwhelming need for a proper accreditation system for ART clinics that would help standardize the protocols and make them user friendly and safe, according to most medical experts in the field.

The fertility industry thus formed its own regulatory body of sorts, under the aegis of the Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction (ISAR) whose objectives are to assimilate all information, facilitate academic/ research collaboration and unrestricted transfer of data, formulate standard practices and contribute to advancement of research in the field of ART. 

Since an audit conducted directly by ISAR may run the risk of being predisposed, ASIC was roped in as an arbiter to carry out auditing and accrediting process for the IVF clinics in a fair and unbiased manner.