Icra Plans Healthcare Company Ratings

Icra Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (India) Ltd (HSCC) for rating healthcare providers.

Grading by the rating agency would help healthcare entities to improve access to capital including institutional funds, Icra managing director P K Choudhury said.

Initially, Icra-HSCC would conduct grading work for primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare providers, he said. While Choudhury said the business generated through this service is expected to pick up gradually, he said Icra was looking at at least 50 clients within one year of launch of the service.

"Icra-HSCC believes that institutionalising an objective grading system will not only benefit users of medical service but also set the pace for a more organised development of medical infrastructure in India," Choudhury said.

The results of grading could be used for developing benchmarks for the services rendered by healthcare entities, he added.

For lenders and investors, the ratings would serve as an indicator of techno-financial risks involved in lending, facilitate appraisal, enable credit monitoring and facilitate risk management. For healthcare entities, the ratings help build patient perception, serve as a differentiation tool and would improve access to capital, he said.