Mumbai: Claiming to be at the 'forefront' of the war on coronavirus, just like it was during the swine flu outbreak some years ago, the authorities of L H Hiranandani Hospital have justified how they end up slapping patients with Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 in bills.
This amount is much higher than the Rs 4,500, which the government has fixed as the amount private hospitals must charge for Covid-19 tests. This issue came to light after a city-based activist Rajesh Darak took exception to a hospital receipt showing it had charged more than Rs 6,400 for a Covid-19 test.
The break-up provided by the hospital in the receipt is as follows: Rs 200 for registration, Rs 1,000 for consultation, Rs 4,500 for the test and Rs 700 for personal protection equipment (PPE). Terming these extra charges arbitrary, activist Darak shot an email to the Hiranandani Hospital authorities, seeking clarification.
The clarification was provided by Dr Sujit Chatterjee, chief executive officer of the hospital, who justified the extra charges, as being reasonable. In his response, Dr Chatterjee said, "I would like to clearly state that the hospital is not overcharging". "The receipt clearly says Covid-19 test charges are Rs 4,500.
Then the PPE cost is Rs 700, which comes under handling charge. These kits come with N-95 masks. Please validate independently how much such a kit costs and what we are charging," Dr Chatterjee has said in his response.
That should add up to Rs 5,200. So what is the explanation for the further amounts charged? Dr Chatterjee explained: "The hospital gets many patients daily, saying they want to be tested for Covid19. Such patients are screened by a physician with more than 15 years' experience in a fever clinic.
So the person seeking the test must be screened by the infectious diseases specialist in the hospital, for which the charge is Rs 1, 000." Of the 10 cases, only 2-3 are recommended for Covid test.
"The seven people who are sent back end up paying only Rs 200 as standard OPD new case registration charges (which is a one-time charge for OPD new case), plus Rs 1,000 as doctor consultation fee. So these seven people, instead of paying Rs 5, 200 for the unnecessary Covid test must only pay Rs 1, 200. In fact, they end up saving money," Dr Chatterjee justified.
Further, Dr Chatterjee highlighted, the pathology technician does not sit in the fever clinic but is called as and when required. "The technician then dons the PPE to take samples from a strongly suspected case. Please bear in mind also that all the staff in the fever clinic are in PPEs, the charge of which is absorbed by the hospital," he pointed out.
The doctor summed up the situation thus: "Our hospital is at the forefront of the Covid-19 war in Mumbai, just as we were in the war against H1N1, almost a decade ago. We know we are not doing anything wrong and if some people and the media intentionally do not want to understand the reasons for the Rs 1, 000 and Rs 200 being charged, we leave it to their intelligence and we rest our case."
