Private hospitals must reserve 10% beds for Covid care: Govt

BHUBANESWAR: Amid the rising Covid-19 cases, the state government on Friday made it mandatory for private hospitals to admit Covid patients and put a cap on the prices they charge. Earlier on August 7, the government had advised them to admit Covid patients, but had not made it compulsory then.
Additional chief secretary (health) Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra said, “All the private hospitals having minimum 30 beds have to earmark minimum 10% beds for Covid. Private participation has become crucial since the number of Covid patients is rising steadily.”
The government has fixed the hospital charges at a minimum of Rs 2,950 per day for general beds to a maximum of Rs 18,000 per day to charges in ICU on ventilator, the same amount it has been reimbursing to the hospitals being run under the public-private-partnership mode offering free treatment to patients.
For general beds, the hospitals accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) can charge Rs 3,000 per bed per day, while those not accredited can charge a maximum of Rs 1,200. All hospitals can charge Rs 1,750 per day for consumables.
For ICUs, the NABH hospitals can charge Rs 17,000 per day and non-NABH hospitals Rs 10,000.
For ICUs with ventilators, the NABH hospitals can charge a maximum of Rs 18,000 per day, while non-NABH ones can charge Rs 12,000. For other medical or surgical emergencies that a Covid-19 patient may need to undergo, the hospitals can’t charge more than the rates approved under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana for the various treatments. For testing, the hospitals can’t charge more than Rs 1,200 for RT-PCR and Rs 450 for antigen tests. Sources said the government move will particularly lower the prices in four corporate hospitals in Bhubaneswar.
The hospitals shall charge reasonable fees from patients and refrain from collecting exorbitant fees, failing which strict action will be taken against them, the government notification said.
For the asymptomatic or mild cases, the hospitals have to send the patients to institutional or home quarantine or paid Covid care centres run by them. The government has asked the hospitals to install CCTV camers in patient treatment area so that the footage can be reviewed by the government authorities, if needed.
The health department exercised the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 making it compulsory to earmark beds for corona patients. The private hospitals have to make ICU facility with ventilator available in the ratio of minimum one for 10 Covid beds.
The hospitals hailed the government move. “We welcome the government move. We are happy to be partnering with the government and contributing in whatever possible way we can to contain the pandemic,” said Nilanjana Mukherjee, unit head, AMRI Hospitals Bhubaneswar.
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