Not a rupee extra should be taken from patients;

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Issues faced by private hospitals due to the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana (MJPJAY), ESIC scheme, Nursing Home Act, fire audit norms, certain conditions of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), and permissions will be resolved soon. Private hospitals and private doctors are important. We must work together. Our only insistence is that not a single rupee extra should be charged from patients, said public health minister Prakash Abitkar.

On Sunday, Abitkar held an interaction with doctors from private hospitals and government hospitals regarding issues related to MJPJAY, the ESIC scheme, and hospital-related concerns. The meeting was held at a hotel and was attended by joint director of health Dr. Sunita Golhait, deputy director of health Dr. Kanchan Vanere, dean of Government Medical College and Hospital Dr. Shivaji Sukre, special officer of Government Cancer Hospital Dr. Arvind Gaikwad, MJPJAY deputy ceo Dayanand Jagtap, ESIC representative Ashok Thorat, and IMA president Dr. Anupam Takalkar.

Hospital registration validity increased from 3 to 5 years

Abitkar said the validity of registration certificates for private hospitals is being increased from three years to five years. Relief will be considered regarding certain fire audit requirements for small hospitals, and discussions will soon be held with the Urban Development Department and MPCB to address issues related to pollution control board conditions. The requirement for trained nurses will be relaxed for a certain period. Claims under MJPJAY will be paid within a month. He also urged that the number of insured patients under ESIC should increase.

New package for critical care

A representative from a hospital pointed out that current critical care packages include 7-day, 8-day, and 10-day slabs, but a patient on a ventilator does not necessarily remain admitted for exactly 10 days. Responding to this, Dayanand Jagtap said the new package will increase the duration based on the number of days required. It will be implemented soon.

Include pediatric cancer treatment

Dr. Arvind Gaikwad drew attention to pediatric cancer treatment. These treatments currently fall under the medical oncology category, which is not fully adequate. They should be included as a separate category, he said. He also demanded the inclusion of tumour markers and ISC studies in treatment packages, and suggested that the chemotherapy package be increased to Rs 20,000–Rs25,000.

Practical norms for small hospitals

In his address, IMA president Dr. Anupam Takalkar stressed the need to simplify registration, adopt a uniform checklist, and introduce a single-window system. He said hospitals with up to 50 beds create no industrial pollution and already follow safe biomedical waste disposal through CBWTF. Therefore, such hospitals should be exempted or given a simplified route for MPCB registration. For 50–200 bed hospitals, he recommended proportionately reducing bank guarantee and financial norms.

Photo Caption:

Public health minister Prakash Abitkar interacting with doctors and representatives from government and private hospitals. Also seen are Dr. Shivaji Sukre, Dr. Sunita Golhait, Dr. Kanchan Vanere, Dr. Anupam Takalkar and Dr. Arvind Gaikwad at an interaction held on Sunday at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.