Take action against hospitals that hesitate to empanel under Ayushman Bharat: Dakshina Kannada MP

Mangaluru: “All private hospitals in the district must empanelled to provide treatment under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. If they do not, underprivileged patients may face difficulties in accessing these benefits. The district administration should take strict action against hospitals that hesitate to empanel," said Dakshina Kannada MP Capt Brijesh Chowta.

He was speaking at a meeting of health department officials and representatives of private hospitals about the effective implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and the Chief Minister’s Arogya Karnataka scheme.

"Every hospital should appoint nodal officers to inform people about these government benefits. Their contact information should be provided, and a shift system should be established to ensure they are available 24X7," he advised.

Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhina MP suggested, "The district health department should also set up a 24-hour helpline to provide information about the Ayushman Bharat scheme."

"Various health check-ups are required to determine the necessary treatment for a patient, but only treatment costs are reimbursed under this scheme. There is no provision for diagnostic costs. Some surgeries need to be conducted urgently, and there isn’t always time to wait for a government doctor’s recommendation, which results in patients being deprived of these benefits," he added.

"Sometimes there are requests to refer even minor surgeries to private hospitals, which is not appropriate," noted Dr Shivaprakash, Medical Superintendent and District Surgeon at Wenlock Hospital.

Currently, facilities for cardiology, chemotherapy, radiology, and cath lab services are not available at the district government Wenlock Hospital. However, all other types of super-speciality facilities are provided. If the intensive care unit is full, there is an option to refer patients to other hospitals, as per a Wenlock Hospital doctor.

There are no health assistants (Arogya Mitra) available to provide information on government insurance schemes in private hospitals after 4:30 pm, which limits patients’ understanding of government benefits, a doctor reported.

 District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr H R Thimmaiah, MLAs Dr Y Bharath Shetty, Vedavyas Kamath, Harish Poonja, and others were present.