HMC accused of milking money at OPD
Hospital makes it mandatory for patients to buy a file costing Rs50.
Hayatabad Medical Complex make it manadatory for patients to buy a Rs50 worth file. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
The Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) has started issuing a specialist file at the ophthalmology out-patient department (OPD) in order to record medical history online. The patients, however, are not happy with this new rule.
The new system implemented on January 1, makes it mandatory for all patients visiting the HMC to buy light green file which contains a card and a form with patient details. Every new patient has to buy the file, which costs Rs50. Patients claim the new system is another measure by the hospital to generate revenue.
Before issuing the form, the administration asks the patient their name, father’s name, age and address. The patient is then referred to a doctor who asks them about their medical history that is then recorded in their system, which has been donated by a non-profit organisation from Australia.
A lot of patients complained the cards were introduced as a means of ‘milking money’, while others said this is the only hospital where the system was introduced. “Hundreds of patients come every day and taking an additional Rs50 from each patient is a huge amount of money,” said Shakirullah, a patient in the OPD.
Haji Abdul Jalil, another patient, said they have to first wait in a long line to get a number and then get in another line, which he says is equally long, to receive the file.
The HMC administration denied the allegations. “When patients visit the OPD for the second time, they lose all their previous reports making it difficult for the doctor to diagnose the illness and prescribe medication. With this file, all their records are updated online,” said Dr Nasir Saeed, head of the Ophthalmology Department at HMC.
He added the NGO donated a total of Rs1.7 million and the cost of each file is Rs100 - they are charging half the fee. Dr Saeed said 60% of their patients are people who have visited earlier, adding that other hospitals sell these files for Rs400.
“We want the ophthalmology department to meet international standards and in a few years its performance will be better than other hospitals in the country,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2013.
The Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) has started issuing a specialist file at the ophthalmology out-patient department (OPD) in order to record medical history online. The patients, however, are not happy with this new rule.
The new system implemented on January 1, makes it mandatory for all patients visiting the HMC to buy light green file which contains a card and a form with patient details. Every new patient has to buy the file, which costs Rs50. Patients claim the new system is another measure by the hospital to generate revenue.
Before issuing the form, the administration asks the patient their name, father’s name, age and address. The patient is then referred to a doctor who asks them about their medical history that is then recorded in their system, which has been donated by a non-profit organisation from Australia.
A lot of patients complained the cards were introduced as a means of ‘milking money’, while others said this is the only hospital where the system was introduced. “Hundreds of patients come every day and taking an additional Rs50 from each patient is a huge amount of money,” said Shakirullah, a patient in the OPD.
Haji Abdul Jalil, another patient, said they have to first wait in a long line to get a number and then get in another line, which he says is equally long, to receive the file.
The HMC administration denied the allegations. “When patients visit the OPD for the second time, they lose all their previous reports making it difficult for the doctor to diagnose the illness and prescribe medication. With this file, all their records are updated online,” said Dr Nasir Saeed, head of the Ophthalmology Department at HMC.
He added the NGO donated a total of Rs1.7 million and the cost of each file is Rs100 - they are charging half the fee. Dr Saeed said 60% of their patients are people who have visited earlier, adding that other hospitals sell these files for Rs400.
“We want the ophthalmology department to meet international standards and in a few years its performance will be better than other hospitals in the country,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2013.