Patient overcharged for pathological test: WB health panel directs hospital to refund Rs 1.2 lakh
Kolkata: Coming down heavily on a private hospital, West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) has directed the facility to initiate a refund of Rs 1.2 lakh to a patient after it was found that the facility had overbilled for a pathological test.
According to the commission's chairperson, Ashim Banerjee, the commission observed that the patient was admitted in the facility for 7 days in March where 21 blood gas tests were conducted on the patient. The commission also noticed that the hospital had charged Rs 700 more for each test than the price cap set by the commission, reports The Tribune.
Mentioning that the commission includes several medical professionals also, Banerjee added that the commission agreed that recommending the same tests several times was unnecessary. Moreover, the hospital handed the patient a bill for 8 days though he was admitted in the facility only for 7 days.
"The man was admitted to Apex at 1.27pm on May 1. He was discharged from the hospital at 12.46 pm on May 8. The duration of his stay at the hospital was less than seven days, but the hospital had billed him for 8 days," Banerjee as quoted saying by The Tribune.
The patient was charged almost Rs 3.30 lakh for his 7 days of treatment. However, after considering the case, the commission was of the view that the treatment charges should not be more than Rs 30,000 for each day.
"We fixed the total bill at Rs 2.10 lakh. The hospital was asked to refund Rs 1.20 lakh to the patient," Banerjee added.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that WBCERC had capped the charges for 5 radiological tests and 15 pathological tests to put a check on very high and irrational rates. However, strongly opposing the order by WBCERC to cap charges the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI) had decided to write to the Commission seeking clarification on the price cap.
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