Pune: All Hospital Bills Will Be Audited For COVID Treatment – Health Minister Rajesh Tope

Mrunal Jadhav 

Pune, 28th May 2021: The State government has decided that authorities will audit every bill charged by hospitals in Pune for the treatment of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), announced Health Minister Rajesh Tope. Till now, only bills above Rs 1.5 lakh were being audited. However, the health minister has announced that now every bill will be audited. Tope was speaking after a meeting held to review the COVID-19 situation in Pune.

Evasion by hospitals

Earlier, there were many complaints that hospitals were charging an exorbitant amount in the bills. Accordingly, the State government had instructed the auditors to audit all bills above Rs 1.5 lakh. However, even after that, some hospitals were seen evading the order. To curb any discrepancy in bills, instructions have been given to audit every bill and for this, it is necessary to have an auditor at every hospital, informed Tope.

Mucormycosis treatment

Tope also made an important announcement regarding the hospitals treating mucormycosis in Pune. “Hospitals like Ruby, Jehangir in Pune treat patients infected with mucormycosis. However, as these hospitals are not included in the government’s list, the patients do not get the benefit of free treatment under the Mahatma Phule Jana Arogya Yojana. Therefore, steps have been taken to include these hospitals in the government’s list too,” Tope said.

Will reduce home isolation in Pune

Two days ago, the State government had ordered to stop home isolation in 18 districts with high COVID-19 positivity rates and institutional segregation. It also includes the Pune district. Accordingly, Tope said that home isolation in Pune will be gradually reduced. “Home, isolation COVID-19 cases were up to 80 per cent in Pune earlier. Now, it has come down to 56 per cent. It has been suggested that reducing those cases to 25-30 per cent should reduce home isolation and increase institutional isolation. If need be, new Covid Care Centers should be set up and all health facilities should be made available there,” the health minister said.

“Institutional isolation will allow monitoring of the patient’s oxygen level and other health conditions on a daily basis. At the same time, it will reduce the spread of the virus. Therefore, this decision has been taken,” he added.

COVID-19 tracking scientifically

The health minister emphasized that tracking and tracing of COVID-19 patients should be done scientifically in Maharashtra. “All administrative officers have been advised that tracking and tracing should be done scientifically across Maharashtra. We don’t want to stand at the square and test people and reduce the positivity rate. Tests should be conducted in high-risk areas. The number of tests should not be very less. Pune is number one in the tests, it should remain number one,” he said. 

Essential services will continue on weekends

“In addition to the State government’s restrictions in Pune, essential services were also closed on Saturdays and Sundays due to the growing number of COVID-19 patients. However, as per the decision taken today, the restrictions on essential services in Pune on Saturdays and Sundays have been lifted,” the minister informed.

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