AIIMS to charge Rs 100 for registration without Aadhaar, patients cry foul

NEW DELHI: Soon patients who provide Aadhaar card at AIIMS will have their registration charges waived, but without it they will have to pay Rs 100 which is ten times the current fee.

Expected to be enforced from January, the move aims at encouraging digital transactions and streamlining patients' database which otherwise is getting cluttered as many patients misplace documents and OPD cards, Dr Deepak Agrawal, chairman, computerisation, AIIMS, said.

At present, a patient has to pay Rs 10 for registration following which an Unique Health Identification (UHID) number is assigned to him/her.

"What happens now is that multiple UHID gets created for a single patient as he misplaces documents and outdoor cards thus cluttering the data," Dr Agrawal said.

"Most likely from next month, registration will become free for patients who provide their Aadhaar number. Those who cannot provide Aadhaar card they will have to pay of Rs 100 for registration," he said.

However, those who cannot pay the hiked registration fee can get it exempted by approaching medical social workers.

AIIMS has already written to the Union Health Ministry requesting it to issue a notification that would mandate linking of Aadhaar number with UHID number.

Linking of Aadhaar number with UHID will also help in achieving the aim of health records portability from one hospital to another, Dr Agrawal said.

Also, in the backdrop of the Centre's push for digital transactions, AIIMS is planning to introduce prepaid card scheme for cashless treatment.

"Under this scheme, people can deposit money before treatment and avail services. If the amount is not fully utilised it would be refunded to the patient. The process of issuing tender for issuing these prepaid cards is complete," Dr Agrawal said.

AIIMS Deputy Director (Administration) V Srinivas said to promote digital transactions in patient services, AIIMS will procure 100 POS (point of sale) machines. These will be set up at cash counters.

AIIMS has also introduced 200 kiosks where net banking facilities have been operationalised. A payment section at www.ors.gov.in is operational since last year.

To promote digital transaction in the academic section of the premier medical institute, a payment section shall be introduced on www.aiims.edu website.

A committee comprising medical superintendent Dr D K Sharma, senior financial advisor Raj Kumar and others will be formed to oversee the timely implementation of the use of digital transaction, a release by AIIMS said.

AIIMS has also decided to purchase medical equipment and machinery through Government e-Marketplace (GeM), an integrated online portal, saying it will bring more transparency and efficiency into the procurement process.