IMA to educate administrative staff on rate cards to curb inflated bills

Given the surge in complaints related to inflated billing and discharge issues from patients and their distressed relatives, particularly at corporate healthcare chains like Sahyadri Hospital, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Pune, has planned to come up with a solution aimed at tackling such issues, involving concerns within hospital billing departments. The medical body thinks that the non-medicos must close the communication gap with the medicos and learn things related to treatments and their expenses in such a way that it could help them as well as patients understand the billing procedure and the resultant bill. Therefore, IMA intends to raise awareness among administrative staff at hospitals through education on rate cards, medication charges, and effective handling of billing situations.

Speaking to Pune Mirror, Dr Sanjay Patil, chairman, Hospital Board of India, IMA Pune chapter, said: “The patient grievance cell and patients’ rights forum at IMA have observed a shocking increase in complaints regarding billing discrepancies at major hospitals. One of them is Sahyadri Hospital, which has often stood out as a primary concern. Being a prominent corporate hospital with a widespread network across Pune and the entire state, Sahyadri is renowned for its medical services. However, recent complaints regarding an increasing number of patients voicing apprehensions over exorbitant bills forced us to not only engage with the hospital directly but also to provide assistance to distressed patients.

“In response to the mounting challenges faced by patients regarding billing issues, particularly concerning Sahyadri, we, as a medical body, initiated discussions with the hospital and interacted with their billing department officials to scrutinise their practices. Subsequently, after noticing the issues, we offered our guidance on adhering to rate lists and improving patient interactions promptly. However, given the escalation of such incidents, the IMA is now planning to introduce an innovative solution to help improve cases of patients in distress.”

When asked about the reasons behind such rising incidences related to bills with hospitals like Sahyadri, Patil explained, “We observed that, primarily, corporate hospitals these days are majorly relying on non-medicos within their administrative departments, which is leading to communication gaps with the medical staff, including treating doctors and surgeons. We also observed that miscommunication between medical and non-medical personnel often poses a challenge, which is directly affecting the end users, namely the patients. Consequently, all billing issues stem from the lack of understanding between doctors and the administrative team.

“Furthermore, discrepancies between estimated charges and actual bills worsen these issues for both patients and hospitals alike. And hence, to confront these challenges head-on, we intend to raise awareness among administrative staff at hospitals like Sahyadri and others,” Patil added.

Dr Rajan Sancheti, president, IMA Pune chapter, told Pune Mirror: “To do so, the IMA is now planning to establish a committee dedicated to addressing billing-related grievances for one and all. We will help the non-medical administrative staff at corporate hospitals and provide them with education on rate cards, medication charges, and effective handling of such situations. It’s crucial to adopt an empathetic approach when interacting with patients, a principle that will be emphasised in the training of non-medical personnel so that billing-related issues are handled well and patients too are left satisfied with not only the treatment but also the rates.”

He added that effective communication and transparency within hospital administrations is the need of the hour which will help in fair and equitable treatment for all patients. Hence, the committee to tackle such issues.

Sahyadri says…

However, when contacted, Sahyadri’s CEO Abrar Ali Dalal responded to allegations concerning rising billing issues at their hospital, saying, “So far, we have encountered minimal issues regarding charges; nevertheless, we remain open to feedback and suggestions to uphold our commitment to transparency and patient-centered care.

“However, as a routine practice, we have always encouraged our patients to reach out to our dedicated departments so that their concerns are promptly addressed.” Pune Mirror