City hospitals to hike room tariff due to inflation

CHENNAI: Impacting on every aspect of the common man's life, the soaring inflation rate is now pushing up costs in healthcare too. With the cost of food and fuel rising, many hospitals in Chennai have planned an upward revision in room tariff by up to 20% in the next two weeks.
The rising price of commodities such as steel have also begun to tell on the manufacturing costs of consumables and surgical equipment, thereby increasing the cost of surgeries by at least 10%.
CEO of the city-based Lifeline Multispeciality Hospital, Dr M Baskar, says, "Our dealers have revised rates of consumables, including surgical steel, x-ray films and plastic items, by 20%. Nearly 60% of hospital expenditure is on consumables. Besides the hike in cost by manufacturers, dealers have hiked transportation charges because of the rise in fuel prices."
So, cost of ambulance services have gone up by 5%. Fees of consultants and specialists too have shot up, by almost double in some cases.
By mid-July, the cost of a normal delivery ��� which now ranges from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 in most private hospitals ��� will rise by Rs 5,000. Caesarean sections costing up to Rs 40,000 in major hospitals will cost Rs 50,000. A coronary bypass surgery, which costs Rs 1.35 lakh, will be pegged at Rs 1.50 lakh. And a laproscopic removal of appendix will put you back by Rs 40,000, up from Rs 30,000 earlier.
Hospital managers say apart from the rise in the cost of consumables and surgical equipment, what has made the hike in room rents inevitable is the fact that meal expenses are rising. "Prices of cereals, pulses, eggs, vegetables, fruits, milk and cooking gas have all gone up in last three months. This obviously reflects in the per plate cost of a patient's food," says hospital consultant N J Gowrishankar, HSB Consulting.
A stay in the general ward, which costs Rs 750 per day now, is thus likely to go up to Rs 850. Rent for twin-sharing rooms will go up to Rs 1,250 from Rs 1,050, individual rooms to Rs 2,700 from Rs 2,200, and deluxe rooms to Rs 4,200 from Rs 3,500.