Covid-19 treatment costs, accountability concerns arise for private hospitals in Pune

Representatives from hospitals to meet PMC commissioner today to chalk out plan regarding payment

Representatives of major private hospitals in the city and the Pune Municipal commissioner, Shekhar Gaikwad, are to meet on Monday to draw up a formula for the payment of hospital bills by patients, or families of patients, being treated for the Sars-Cov-2 virus, which causes the Covid-19 infection.

A few volunteers are seen arranging beds at a mosque located inside Azam Campus, Camp on Sunday. The mosque has been turned into a quarantine facility for Covid-19 patients. The 9,000 square feet hall on the first floor of mosque has a capacity for 80 beds. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

Dr Sunil Rao, group medical director at Sahyadri Speciality hospital, gives an example of a patient at his hospital, which perfectly captures the confusion surrounding the payment of bills for Covid-19 treatment, especially at private hospitals.

“We just discharged a Covid-19 patient after he completed the incubation period and tested negative. The bill for 21 days was about Rs 6 lakh. The patient is also not willing to pay the bill since he claims that the government will pay, but then, there are no clear orders yet regarding this to the hospitals,” says Dr Rao.

PMC commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad says, “We have a meeting with the representatives of major hospitals on Monday. We will work out the remuneration of the bills charged to Covid-19 patients being treated at private hospitals. We can work on various formulas which work for both the administration and the private hospitals; maybe a percentage-wise share or exploring various government health schemes.”

The civic body has requested the state government to chalk out a referral policy for private hospitals as far as critical Covid-19 patients are concerned, said PMC chief Shekhar Gaikwad.

Dr Rao adds, “The PMC is going to take over many private hospitals. We too will soon hand over our hospital at Kothrud to be a dedicated Covid-19 hospital. However, with regards to remuneration or payment of bills once the patient tests positive, there is still some confusion. Currently we are sending all bills to the collector’s office and we have been asked to discharge patients without delaying the process due to bill payment.”

Dr Avinash Bhondwe, state president, Indian Medical Association (IMA) said, “No private hospital will turn away a patient once s/he reaches the critical stage. It’s often the patient or the family members themselves who request a discharge due to high bills.”

Dr Subhash Salunkhe, chairman of the Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control Technical Committee, conducted a meeting with representatives from private hospitals on Saturday. He said, “We are yet to decide on the rate to be paid to these hospitals. The PMC commissioner and the district administration will work out on the norms under which the bills could be remunerated; may be under various government schemes like Jeevandayi Yojana or the Pradhan Mantri Yojana. Private hospitals, too, have placed their demands, like billing patients on co-morbid conditions, or the per bed charges.”

Private hospitals for Covid-19

There are 277 beds and 66 ICU beds available at 10 private hospitals for Covid-19 patients in the city as of April 24

Hospital name/ Available beds/ ICU bed

Ruby Hospital 40 /5

Jehangir Hospital 23 /7

Columbia Asia Hospital 22 /2

Sahyadri Hospital, Deccan 2/ 2

Sahyadri Hospital, Kothrud 30 /4

Deenanath Mangeshkar 10 /30

Nobel Hospital, Hadapsar 70 /9

Surya Sahyadri Hospital 10 /0

Sahyadri Hospital, Bibvewadi 30/ 4

KEM Hospital 40 /3