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Discrepancies worth ₹11.65 cr found in IPF account of Pune’s KEM hospital
Joint charity commissioner, Pune allegedly found discrepancies worth over ₹11.65 crore in the Indigent Patients Fund (IPF) account of KEM Hospital Trust
PUNE The joint charity commissioner, Pune, during the inspection of accounts allegedly found discrepancies worth over ₹11.65 crore in the Indigent Patients Fund (IPF) account of KEM Hospital Trust.
The IPF scheme framed by the Bombay High Court and rolled out in September 2006, all charitable hospitals in the state have to allocate two per cent of their gross billing to help indigent or economically weak patients. This aid has to be in the form of free treatment to those with an annual income below ₹ 85,000, and at 50 per cent discounted billing for patients whose family’s annual income does not exceed ₹ 1.8 lakh.
The charity commissioner on Tuesday ordered the hospital to deposit the money in the IPF account or face legal action and a letters regarding the same was issued on Wednesday.
Sudhir Bukke, joint charity commissioner, Pune, said, KEM hospital is amongst several charitable hospitals in the city which claimed to have a negative IPF account balance.
“To check if the hospitals are genuinely running in negative balance the inspections were conducted during which the discrepancies were found,” he said.
As per officials, during inspection discrepancies have been allegedly found in the IPF funds for the year April 1 2019 to September 30, 2023, amounting to over ₹ 11.65 crore.
During inspections, it was found that IPF patients were wrongly billed for non-billable charges like bed charges and screening tests.
The investigations further revealed two per cent of the donations received by the hospital trust were not disclosed and deposited in the IPF account.
PM Andhale, charity inspector, said that despite the regular instructions, the hospital was not found to consider two per cent of the gross billing of the hospital pharmacy for IPF.
“The investigation was conducted since August last year as per instructions of the superiors. Based on the findings a report was submitted to the joint charity commissioner,” he said.
Following the order the charity commissioner’s office issued a letter to the KEM hospital directing them to deposit the money and submit a report. In case of failure, action will be initiated as per provisions of the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950, read the letter.
Bukke informed the intention behind the practice is to genuinely check if trust hospitals are running in negative IPF balance.
“If hospitals are running in negative balance we can work out a solution to ensure the needy patients don’t face inconvenience. KEM Hospital has agreed to deposit the money in the IPF account and use it for the treatment of needy patients. However, stern action will be taken against hospitals who falsely claim to have a negative balance,” he said.
Dr Vishwanath Yemul, medical administrator at KEM Hospital, said that the relevant authorities had asked us for some information during their ongoing IPF audit and we had given them all the information required to satisfy their queries.
“Our books of accounts are regularly audited as per relevant laws. Our audit report and IPF statement have no difference and both are congruous to each other. All the donations have been disclosed and properly accounted for as per applicable accounting practices and accounts are subject to statutory audit regularly. However, we are reviewing the computation of the claimed amount as mentioned in the order which we received today,” he said.
