Subsidise cost of emergencies at private hospitals: IMA

The Asian Age.

Metros, Delhi

The commission will have a public man, an IMA office bearer, one former state medical council representative, and two subject experts.

The IMA said this in a press conference in the backdrop of the two recent cases in the private medical sector — overcharging the family of a seven-year-old dengue patient, who later died, by Fortis Hospital (Gurgaon). (Facebook @AdyaSinghFortis)

New Delhi: In the wake of alleged medical negligence by two private hospitals in the national capital, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has requested the state governments to subsidise the cost of all emergencies in the private medical sector and to create a reimbursement mechanism.

The IMA said this in a press conference in the backdrop of the two recent cases in the private medical sector — overcharging the family of a seven-year-old dengue patient, who later died, by Fortis Hospital (Gurgaon) and a newborn being erroneously declared “dead” by Max Hospital (Shalimar Bagh).

In the absence of state subsidy, private sector providing quality care will invariably come at a cost which is still at a fraction of a cost compared to that in advanced countries, it said.

The IMA also announced certain self-regulatory procedures for hospitals and doctors, such as all doctors should prescribe preferably NLEM (national list of essential medicines) drugs and promote Jan Aushadhi Kendra.

“We appeal to the government to classify all disposables under both NLEM and non-NLEM categories and to cap the price of essential ones. Till then, all medical establishments should sell the disposables at procurement prize after adding a predefined fixed margin...,” it said.

“Every doctor should ensure that it becomes mandatory on the part of the hospital administrator to give options at the time of admission to choose cost-effective treatment room and treatment (single room, shared room, and general ward) and explain the differences in the total bill estimates,” the IMA added in a statement.

Dr KK Aggarwal, the national president of IMA, announced the formation of an IMA Medical Redressal Commission at the state level (in each state) to engage in social, financial, and quality audits of health care (suo moto or on demand). The commission will have a public man, an IMA office bearer, one former state medical council representative, and two subject experts.

The association also said that a hospital has no right to stop life-saving investigations or treatment over non-payment of bills if the patient is still admitted in the hospital.

“The government should make a mechanism for reimbursement of the above for poor patients,” IMA said.

Read more...