Hospital bill audit 48 hrs before discharge

Private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients in Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will have to get all medical bills approved by the civic body at least 48 hours before a patient is discharged. With this measure, the civic administration has changed its previous decision wherein patients could lodge a complaint if hospitals had charged them over the permissible rate decided by the state government.

Soon after the second wave of Covid hit, the civic body had reactivated the COVID 19 Bill Complaint Centre, which has been set up to resolve issues of inflated bills relating to private hospitals. The civic body had also issued a helpline number that patients’ families could call if they were being charged more than the permissible rate for treatment.

While reviewing the audit reports of billing complaints from April 1 to April 30, civic chief Abhijit Bangar decided that bills must be cleared by the civic body before the patient is discharged from a private hospital treating Covid cases.

Bangar directed the setting up of a special audit committee to verify the possible amount from hospitals 48 hours in advance of the patient’s discharge.

As per the notification issued by the state government on May 21, 2020, private hospitals can charge for the treatment of Covid patients as decided by the state government. However, the NMMC was receiving complaints from patients, as well as their relatives, that some hospitals were violating the order.

A show-cause notice was issued to the concerned private hospital and patients’ families got relief. Now, all private hospitals treating Covid patients must send a draf t bill 48 hours before the discharge of the patient to cbcc@nmmconline.com of the NMMC and it will be verified by the special audit committee within 48 hours. In addition, the civic body has also appointed a payment coordinating officer for private hospitals to oversee the process. The civic chief has also directed the immediate setting up of a dashboard for this purpose so that the audit can be monitored within 48 hours.