How can standards help improve hospital services in India: Inputs Sought
Below are some of the key issues identified by you in regards to hospital services. Kindly review them and help identify solutions through formation of standards that can help in addressing some of these issues. We look forward to your inputs!
Issues identified with Hospital Services
1.Patients are asked to take unnecessary tests
2.Rate of tests like MRI, CT scan etc. are way higher in private hospitals than outside
3.As a money-making exercise, many hospitals straight away suggest surgeries in cases where it might not immediately be needed
4.If the patient has insurance, the hospitals keep them admitted for a longer duration of time and bills are inflated
5.Patients are kept on ventilators even if there is no chance of recovery
6.Room rates in private hospitals are very high
7.Private clinic/hospital encourage to pay bills in cash and also give forged bill
8.In place of generic medicines, branded costlier medicines are recommended
9.People with health cards, medical insurances extra also lured into unnecessary treatments, procedures and surgeries
10.Doctor's compensation is linked to revenue contribution in many private hospitals
11.The grievance cells in private hospitals are terrible
12.Customer complaints are not addressed properly
13.Patients are asked to get admitted even if they don’t really need admission and room
15.Unnecessary tests are ordered just to increase revenue
16.Consultation fees in private hospitals is very high
17.Room rent in private hospitals is similar to 4 and 5 star hotels
18.The rates of tests are also very high in private hospitals compared to the outside labs
19.Patients with insurance are charged more compared to the others
20.Patients from EWS section entitled to treatment are discouraged by making them buy expensive medicines/paperwork
21.There are long waiting times to see the doctor
22.Appointment system is not up to the mark in many hospitals
23.There is corruption in most departments at Government hospitals
24.The disposal of various kinds of wastes is a serious issue
25.Medical devices used for patients are charged at MRP or even above MRP
26.There is no transparency in billing at most hospitals where prices of medicines, consumables and services are not itemised. more
Issues identified with Hospital Services
1.Patients are asked to take unnecessary tests
2.Rate of tests like MRI, CT scan etc. are way higher in private hospitals than outside
3.As a money-making exercise, many hospitals straight away suggest surgeries in cases where it might not immediately be needed
4.If the patient has insurance, the hospitals keep them admitted for a longer duration of time and bills are inflated
5.Patients are kept on ventilators even if there is no chance of recovery
6.Room rates in private hospitals are very high
7.Private clinic/hospital encourage to pay bills in cash and also give forged bill
8.In place of generic medicines, branded costlier medicines are recommended
9.People with health cards, medical insurances extra also lured into unnecessary treatments, procedures and surgeries
10.Doctor's compensation is linked to revenue contribution in many private hospitals
11.The grievance cells in private hospitals are terrible
12.Customer complaints are not addressed properly
13.Patients are asked to get admitted even if they don’t really need admission and room
15.Unnecessary tests are ordered just to increase revenue
16.Consultation fees in private hospitals is very high
17.Room rent in private hospitals is similar to 4 and 5 star hotels
18.The rates of tests are also very high in private hospitals compared to the outside labs
19.Patients with insurance are charged more compared to the others
20.Patients from EWS section entitled to treatment are discouraged by making them buy expensive medicines/paperwork
21.There are long waiting times to see the doctor
22.Appointment system is not up to the mark in many hospitals
23.There is corruption in most departments at Government hospitals
24.The disposal of various kinds of wastes is a serious issue
25.Medical devices used for patients are charged at MRP or even above MRP
26.There is no transparency in billing at most hospitals where prices of medicines, consumables and services are not itemised. more
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Govt should take over Healthcare and provide good services to the population. But unfortunately most law makers have played themselves into the hands of the corporate criminals and and have been pouring money into their coffers through unwise schemes such as Aarogyasree. The same money can be utilized to start hundreds of standard hospitals to provide health services at reasonable rates. Members please think over... more
Aug 26
Under-nourishment or mal-noursihed patients can be helped by providing location whre they can receive balanced food for their ailment, and avoid hospitalization in near future.. See link: https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-019-3918-3 See PDF attached: Impact of gaps in care for malnourished patients on length of stay and hospital readmission _ Full Text.pdf more
Aug 26
The govt hospital need to be improved to give competition to private hospitals. Education and health must be under the control of the state. more
Jun 14
While I agree with most of the points, I would want to add/alter some of the points as follows : 1.Patients are asked to take unnecessary tests : Sometimes the same blood test is repeated 2-3 times or even more, charges for which are to be paid by the patient. 4.If the patient has insurance, the hospitals keep them admitted for a longer duration of time and bills are inflated : Partial Truth. Irrespective of the fact, whether the patient has medical insurance o not, some patients are kept admitted, (mostly) till another patient seeks admission to occupy that bed. 8.In place of generic medicines, branded costlier medicines are recommended : Partially True, because even when the branded medicines are administered, only those brands are chosen, which have maximum RRP over the other brands of the same medicine. Patients are NOT allowed to bring their own medicines and have to buy them only from the Chemists shop attached to the hospital, which only has branded medicines of highest MRPs. 11.The grievance cells in private hospitals are not only terrible, they do not exist for most of the private hospitals. Even if they exist, there is no written indication available anywhere, either in the documents available with the patients and/or various displays put out by the hospital. MOST Important : The Quality & Quantity of Food served to the patient is questionable. Many hospitals have dieticians, but the diet specified for a patient and the food provided do NOT match most of the time. Rates charged are very high. Such hospitals also do NOT have a provision for providing food for the patient’s relatives. Even if some hospitals do have them, again the quality of food provided is questionable. Rates charged are very high. more
May 06
1. The basic facility of clean washrooms for the visitors to hospitals is sadly lacking. Even doctors do not have proper toilets. A ratio of toilets vs number of persons who use them should be scientifically arrived at, and minimum standards of cleanliness and maintenance should be adhered to. 2. Potable drinking water is usually denied to the visitors. They are forced to purchase mineral water at exorbitant prices. When they ask for butter milk or jaljira they are given coca cola and thums up which are harmful to the patients' health. Every hospital should supply drinking water to the visitors, and traditional drinks like buttermilk, jaljira and tamarind summer drink should be made available throughout. Harmful synthetic aerated waters should be banned from hospital premises. more
May 06
