‘Provide patients’ family estimate of treatment cost during admission’

Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has directed Desun Hospital to ensure that they provide patients’ family members an estimate of the treatment cost at the time of the admission of the patient in case of planned surgery.

The WBCERC during hearing on Thursday came to know that one Parimal Samanta went to Desun Hospital for a hip joint replacement surgery. The doctor the patient had consulted advised an admission. A patient under the West Bengal Health Scheme (WBHS), Samanta was admitted to the hospital on December 5. The patient in his complaint with the WBCERC alleged that before taking the patient to the operation theater the hospital told the family members of the patient that they would have to pay Rs 22,000 unless operation could not be done only because the price of the implant was higher than what the health scheme would cover. The patient’s family members had to give a written declaration and pay the amount. The hospital authorities, however, claimed during the hearing that the patient’s family was asked to pay the amount as well as the written undertaking one day ahead of the operation date. The undertaking was taken from the patient saying that WBHS would not cover the total cost of the implant.

The WBCERC observed that the hospital cannot ask for the cost of the implant on the day of admission or a day prior to the operation. They should have given the estimate at the time of admission. As a result the commission has asked the Desun Hospital to refund 50 per cent of the extra cost taken from the patients amounting to Rs 11,000 to the patient’s family.

In another case, the WBCERC has asked Manipal Hospital to return Rs 1,200 to a patient who was unnecessarily charged for OPD consultation in the follow up treatment. As per the WBCERC’s guideline, a private hospital cannot charge consultation fees in the followup treatment if a patient revisits the doctor within 15 days from the first day of consultation. The patient Sukumar Saha was charged for the followup visit within 115 days. The Commission also asked the hospital to refund additional Rs 1200 which was charged for dietician consultation

and hygiene charge.