IMA Warangal condemns generalised remarks on consultation fees, private hospitals
Warangal: The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Warangal Branch, has strongly condemned the recent remarks by MLC Smt. Vijayashanti Garu regarding consultation fees and investigation costs at private hospitals, calling the remarks unfair and misleading.
While supporting measures to prevent unnecessary investigations, irrational treatment and excessive billing, IMA pointed out that generalising the actions of a few doctors or corporate hospitals to the entire medical fraternity is “unfair, misleading and damaging to the profession.”
The association expressed its discontent after Vijayashanti reportedly said that private hospitals are exploiting patients. Many of the doctors pointed out that Government data reveals a 61-fold gap in what Telangana households spend on infection treatment at private versus government hospitals. “But what explains such a dramatic difference? Is it doctors' fees, medicines, diagnostic tests, hospital infrastructure, or the way private healthcare is structured?
The IMA has defended private hospitals, pointing to the costs of running them, while doctors have also questioned how corporate healthcare and insurance shape patient care,” stated one of the doctors.
The association pointed out that consultation fees vary depending on the doctor's qualification, speciality, experience, location and type of healthcare facility. Similarly, investigations for a patient with fever depend on the clinical condition, duration, severity, age, comorbidities and examination findings. A complicated or serious illness cannot be compared with a simple self-limiting fever.
The IMA further pointed out that small and medium-sized private hospitals are not comparable with large corporate hospitals. Private hospitals incur substantial recurring expenditure on doctors and staff, infrastructure and rent, equipment EMIs, AMC/CMC, electricity, biomedical waste management, fire and municipal compliances, professional and other taxes, pollution control requirements, Clinical Establishment and PCPNDT compliances, licences, inspections and several other statutory obligations—irrespective of patient volume.
In a press release signed by Dr P. Manmohan Raju, President of IMA Warangal, the association said, “IMA believes that transparent billing, rational investigations, informed consent and protection of patients from unnecessary expenditure are essential. Any proven unethical practice should be dealt with strictly on the basis of evidence against the concerned individual or institution rather than by making sweeping statements against the entire profession.”
IMA has also provided suggestions to strengthen public healthcare, including strengthening PHCs and Urban Health Centres with adequate infrastructure, medicines and diagnostic facilities with 24-hour round-the-clock doctors and supporting healthcare staff, taking effective preventive measures against seasonal and communicable diseases, including public awareness and early intervention programmes and conducting sustained public education regarding the risks of seeking treatment from unqualified/fake practitioners and unregistered rural medical practitioners.
The association also suggested that providing special provisions and reasonable regulatory support for qualified doctors practising in rural and underserved areas, including suitable GST relief or exemptions, simplification of Clinical Establishment and other regulatory requirements for small rural establishments, and interest-free or low-interest loans for essential medical equipment and infrastructure will also be beneficial.
IMA Warangal has urged all public representatives to engage with doctors and healthcare associations before making broad statements about medical costs. Constructive dialogue, evidence-based policy, and strengthening of public healthcare—not generalisation or vilification of doctors—are the way forward.
