With COVID-19 pandemic set to scale the peak in the State, it is becoming more evident that the private health sector will have a major role to play in providing tertiary and advanced care for COVID-19 patients so that the mortality rate does not rise.
The government has been engaging the private health sector and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in a manner in which the latter can cooperate with the government. The government’s initial suggestion that Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhati’s fever/pneumonia treatment package rates (ranging from ₹750 per patient for general ward to ₹2,000 a day for ICU plus ventilator charges) be taken as COVID treatment rates was rejected by the private sector as way too low.
Uniform rates
In keeping with the government’s proposal that there should be uniformity in rates, private hospitals had proposed that Kerala announce a separate package for private hospitals as has been done by Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Their rates put the charges per patient in the range of ₹5,000 a day for general ward to ₹14,000 a day for ICU care and ₹20,000 a day for ICU with ventilator.
“After discussions, we have put up a proposal and have reached an understanding with the government. The approximate average charges per patient in general ward would be around ₹2,300 a day, High Dependency Unit charges at ₹3,500 a day, ICU charges at ₹6,000 a day and ICU with ventilator charges at ₹11,500 a day. There will be an additional charge for PPE kits because we will need to use plenty of these,” A.V. Jayakrishnan, chairman, IMA Hospital Board of India, said.
“The patient-staff ratio required for COVID care is very high and with PPE, staff will have to be rotated every six hours. Only those private hospitals which can strictly maintain a clear separation between COVID and non-COVID patients will offer to provide COVID care. Not more than one-fourth of the normal hospital capacity can be set aside for COVID care becaus,” he added.
All private hospitals have been amping up their testing facilities by investing in TrueNat or CBNAAT machines. The new viral antigen test kit approved by the ICMR is emerging as an easier option and in two weeks’ time the private sector is expected to be well-equipped to offer COVID testing for more people.
