KOLKATA: The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC), set up in 2017 to fix accountability of private clinical establishments, may look into the expenditure and income of private hospitals in case of complaints against them. The commission is also coming out with a guideline for pathological tests required for Covid-19 treatment. WBCERC members will physically meet for the first time on Saturday evening to discuss issues related to Covid, including Covid treatment cost and patient management protocol.

“We have certain plans regarding audit of hospitals. But we will cross the bridge when it comes. The cases or complaints we have received so far are exceptional in nature and do not reflect a general role of the private healthcare sector,” said Justice Asim Kumar Banerjee, WBCERC chairperson.
“Right now, we are more focused on a coordinated approach of the government and the private sector to fight the pandemic. In a health infrastructure, both have important roles to play,” he said. “If there is a complaint, we will look into it and nobody will be spared for wrongdoings,” Banerjee said. The commission has so far come out with 10 Covid-19 advisories and a Covid-19 regulatory order.
According to Banerjee, patients will also have to keep in mind that a private hospital will have higher charges. “Patients should have a fair knowledge of the charges before they are admitted to those hospitals. In case of a planned surgery, the hospital stay is for seven days on an average. But in case of Covid-19 patients, it usually goes up to 10-15 days. Now, if the patient has to get into ICU, ventilation or ECMO costs will definitely be steep,” he said.
The commission has so far found out that there are two major heads of expenditure for a Covid-19 patient — investigation and medicines. The commission is planning to come out with a guideline for pathological tests and its draft is ready.
AMRI Hospitals CEO Rupak Barua said allegations of over-billing at private hospitals are mostly unjustified. “Although there have been some sporadic incidents, these should be considered as exceptions. The high-ticket bills are for patients undergoing treatment on ventilator or on expensive support procedures like ECMO. Most of these patients are on extensive life support and organ support for days, which would have incurred considerable expenses, with or without the pandemic.”
Saurabh Kumar Ghosh, a doctor and spokesperson for Nabajiban Hospital felt that the role played by the WBCERC has so far been beneficial to the healthcare sector. “Private hospitals can keep the bill size under control if it is not a very serious patient or the patient does not have any co-morbidity. Government regulations stipulate the number of PPE kits that can be charged each day. It has also capped the amount a doctor can charge from a patient per day. Such steps have been helpful in curbing malpractices,” Ghosh said.