Kolkata: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission has asked hospitals to be more transparent in billing and pay due importance to counselling patients or their families if the amounts exceeded the original packages offered.
Though the health commission did not clearly state the need to set standardised rates for private hospitals, it pointed out that they had received some suggestions from some hospitals.
This discussion was held on Monday during a meeting between WBCERC members and representatives of 47 private hospitals on affordable treatment costs. The meeting was hosted by Belle Vue Clinic at its New Town facility. The health panel said it recently received complaints from at least six private hospitals that patients were taken away without the bills being cleared. “We have asked hospital administrators to take a look at three areas—medicines, consumables and investigation tests, which can reduce the cost. We have asked them to provide counselling in case the cost exceeds the packages quoted at the time of admission,” WBCERC chairman Justice (retd) Ashim Kumar Banerjee told reporters after the meeting.
Banerjee pointed out that if a patient was offered a package of Rs 1.5 lakh during admission and the cost escalated to Rs 4.5 lakh at the time of discharge, it could lead to a dispute. “We have asked hospitals to stress proper counselling on the reasons behind the rise. Such counselling should be captured or recorded,” he said.
Senior physician Sukumar Mukherjee, a member of WBCERC, also stressed the importance of setting a standardised protocol for both the treatment of various ailments and their costs. “While affordability is a relative term, what is required is uniformity, ethics and transparency in billing. An investigative test at one private hospital could cost Rs 350 and at another Rs 900. Why would there be such a wide difference?” an administrative head of a private hospital said.
Banerjee said regulating costs for private hospitals had been suggested but he did not comment on whether the commission would come up with a rate protocol. “Though the commission has directed 10% and 20% discounts on medicine and consumables, we often find some hospitals not conforming to it. The discounts help a lot in reducing the bill,” said the CEO of another hospital.
The commission also asked private hospitals to submit data on operational bed numbers and the number of patients admitted under Swasthya Sathi and the West Bengal Health Scheme (WBHS) of the past three financial years. The commission said while refusals of Swasthya Sathi and WBHS had come down, they were still there “on the sly”. Private hospitals were told to ensure at least 10% of their beds were reserved for such patients.
