After Ayushman Bharat rollout, Kolkata hosps seek 3-point clarity

Kolkata: Hospitals in Kolkata have set up help desks and dedicated teams to interact with patients who seek admission under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. Many have also lined up training for staff to handle Ayushman patients. While more than 11,000 health establishments in Bengal have applied for empanelment, there is as yet no clarity on when Ayushman cards would be distributed, who is required to refer patients for admission under the scheme, or how to upload patient details following admission, hospitals said. The Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI) is expecting a meeting with state health officials soon.

The association says it would like patients to be aware of the ambit of the scheme precisely.

There were allegations of inadequate coverage for various procedures under Swasthya Sathi, along with admission refusals, said Rupak Barua, CEO of Woodlands Hospital and president of AHEI. “Our help desk is ready and we expect a meeting with the national health authorities soon, following which, there will be training for health workers on dealing with Ayushman patients. We have asked all member hospitals to be transparent about the scheme,” said Barua.

Ruby General Hospital, which has been on the Ayushman platform for several years and treats around 150 patients a month under the scheme, has started interacting with patients’ families on admission rules and procedures. “Our Ayushman patients are from the neighbouring states. There could be alterations now that it has been rolled out in Bengal, and we are training our staff for changes,” said Ruby chief general manager-operations Subhashis Datta.

A south Kolkata hospital that, too, offers Ayushman, said it is getting ready to ‘communicate the eligibility’ to patients but it could be difficult to display the rates since they run into more than 50 pages. “We have initiated the process of setting up a dedicated Ayushman help desk. We anticipate a significant increase in patient footfall and are proactively working to make the facility fully functional soon. Once it starts working, we will begin counselling all Ayushman patients who now come from Bihar, Jharkhand and Tripura on the rates and conditions of admission, which will serve as a preparation before local patients start getting admitted,” the hospital in-charge said.

Most patients are now admitted under Ayushman Bharat for cardiac procedures, orthopaedic implants and cancer treatment across various Kolkata hospitals. Since most city hospitals are rated Grade 1 under the NABH accreditation system, the rates are ‘good,’ said a hospital representative. “For these three, the basic costs are covered. But patients sometimes seek a more expensive cardiac or orthopaedic implant that is not covered under the package. In those cases, they pay the additional amount unofficially. But these have to be communicated to patients in advance. Once the patient number swells, this could be a challenge,” the representative said.

Some, however, felt displaying rates was unnecessary since the scheme entitles those enlisted to free treatment. “Once it is available, Ayushman is free of charge so patients just need to be communicated the treatment details. Explaining the charges is redundant,” said Prashant Sharma, MD of Charnock Hospital.

Charnock has an established mechanism for handling patients under health schemes, added Sharma. “As we’re also doing many others schemes, like CGHS, ESIC, we are quite well prepared both at Charnock Hospital and at Charnock Lohia Hospital,” said Sharma.

Desun Hospital has an existing help desk since it is on the Ayushman platform. “We have an established setup to handle queries related to treatments, package rates, hospital stay, and other details. Once the scheme is fully operational in Bengal, we will strengthen our support system with a dedicated desk to assist beneficiaries . Our teams have undergone training at Swasthya Bhavan and are currently brushing up with internal hands-on training. Wherever applicable, we will also make information related to Ayushman Bharat package rates available to patients to promote transparency and informed decision making,” said Desun MD Sajal Dutta.

Every patient will be counselled before admission at HCG Cancer Hospitals. “The treatment plan, applicable rates, eligibility and estimate are explained, and the ‘estimation paper’ is signed by both the counsellor and the patient. We will follow the same transparent process for Ayushman Bharat,” said Rupali Basu, RBH (East & AP), HCG Cancer Hospitals.