HR and EHS teams arranging annual health programmes routinely encounter two accreditation designations: NABL and NABH. Both are referenced in procurement discussions, yet most professionals cannot precisely define the distinction — or determine which credential is the directly relevant quality standard for the diagnostic tests being purchased.
NABL: The Accreditation That Actually Governs Your Lab Tests
NABL accredits diagnostic and calibration laboratories in India. When a laboratory is NABL-accredited, it means its testing procedures, equipment calibration, quality control protocols, staff qualifications, and result-reporting processes have been assessed against international standards (ISO 15189 for medical laboratories) and found to meet them.
For your employee health checkup, NABL accreditation of the diagnostic laboratory is the directly relevant quality credential. A non-accredited lab may produce correct results, but there is no independent verification that its processes are reliable.
NABH: The Accreditation That Governs the Hospital or Clinic
NABH accredits healthcare facilities — hospitals, clinics, blood banks, and dental facilities — against quality and safety standards for patient care. NABH accreditation is a quality signal for the clinical facility, covering infection control, surgical safety, patient rights, and clinical governance.
NABH is important when choosing a hospital for your employees, but it doesn’t directly guarantee the quality of the diagnostic tests performed in the hospital’s lab. A NABH-accredited hospital may or may not have a NABL-accredited laboratory.
How to Verify Accreditation Before Empanelling
- Visit the NABL website (nabl-india.org) and search for the laboratory by name. Verify the accreditation is current and that the scope covers the specific tests you require.
- Visit the NABH website (nabh.co) and verify the hospital’s accreditation status and category.
- Ask the facility for their accreditation certificate. Any reputable facility will provide this immediately — reluctance to share it is a warning sign.
The Non-Accredited Lab Risk
Common quality failures in non-accredited labs include: calibration drift in analytical equipment that biases all results, poorly trained phlebotomists leading to haemolysed samples and false results, inadequate cold chain for specimens requiring temperature control, and incorrect reference ranges used for result interpretation. None of these failures are visible to the ordering doctor or the patient — they look like normal results.
Understanding NABL Scope: Not All Accreditation Is the Same
A NABL accreditation certificate specifies the scope of accreditation — the specific tests that have been assessed and approved. A laboratory can be NABL-accredited for haematology but not for microbiology, or for some chemistry panels but not others. Before finalising a laboratory empanelment, confirm that the NABL accreditation scope certificate explicitly covers the specific test parameters required for your workforce. The scope is published on the NABL website against the accreditation number.
Common scope gaps in labs that present as “NABL-accredited”: accreditation doesn’t cover newer tests like HbA1c; specific tumour markers or hormonal assays not in scope; spirometry or audiometry not covered (these require separate equipment accreditation in some cases); and point-of-care devices in satellite collection centres operating outside the accredited scope. When in doubt, ask the lab to show you the specific test on their NABL accreditation certificate.
NABH Entry Level vs Full Accreditation
NABH offers two levels: Entry Level accreditation, which covers basic hospital quality parameters, and full NABH accreditation, which is the comprehensive international standard. Entry Level NABH is a stepping stone — a facility that has held only Entry Level for more than two years without progressing should raise questions about commitment to quality improvement.
For corporate health checkup empanelment, full NABH is the appropriate benchmark. Entry Level NABH is acceptable for clinics conducting basic checkups, but for facilities where your employees undergo cardiac tests, radiology, or specialist consultations, full NABH accreditation is the standard that provides genuine quality assurance across the care pathway.
Annual Accreditation Monitoring: The Step Most Programmes Miss
Accreditation is not a permanent status. Both NABL and NABH conduct scheduled surveillance assessments and maintain the authority to suspend or withdraw accreditation upon identification of quality system failures. Lab empanelment lists should be verified against current accreditation status annually. A facility that was NABL-accredited when you empanelled it two years ago may not be today. A small number of Indian corporate health programmes have had lab results challenged because the facility’s NABL accreditation had lapsed at the time of testing.
Best practice: check the accreditation status of all empanelled labs and hospitals at least annually by searching the NABL and NABH websites. Add this to your annual vendor review calendar. Some managed occupational health providers do this automatically and alert clients to any changes in accreditation status of their network facilities.
