Mahim-based Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre said the hospital has implemented the NPPA prescribed pricing since August 16. (Representational)
Days after it capped prices of knee implants in the country, the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) is set to take action against 40 hospitals that have not revised prices of knee implants on their websites. The NPPA had asked manufacturers and hospitals to bill patients from August 16 based on the new price ceiling. NPPA chairman Bhupendra Singh had also asked hospitals to display revised prices on their websites.
While no complaints of over pricing have been received by the NPPA, as a precautionary measure, the regulatory body started scrutinising websites of private hospitals to ensure knee implant rates were complied with. Among the 40 hospitals found non-compliant, 10 are in Delhi, three in Mumbai, four each in Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Noida. In Mumbai, Borivali-based Apex Multispecialty hospital, PD Hinduja Hospital and HN Reliance Foundation Hospital have not displayed the revised knee implant prices, a NPPA release said. NPPA is set to take action against all the three.
In August, the NPPA had slashed maximum price of general knee implant by 65 per cent — from Rs 1.58 lakh to Rs 54,720. Revision implants would cost 58-81 per cent less, with current price cap at Rs 1.13 lakh. The cost of high flexibility implants have reduced to Rs 56,490 from Rs 1.8-4.5 lakh while that of Titanium oxidised zirconium implants have reduced to Rs 76,700 from Rs 2.5-4.5 lakh. A spokesperson from HN Reliance hospital said, “We have published the revised pricing on our website as soon as it was announced. Our officials will communicate this to the NPPA. There must be some misunderstanding.”
Mahim-based Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre said the hospital has implemented the NPPA prescribed pricing since August 16. “The hospital has followed the pricing guidelines by NPPA for all patients. We have also displayed the prices of knee implants in the hospital at relevant places,” the spokesperson said. When reached, Arti Raichura, CEO of Apex Hospital, said the hospital is under process of updating its website with revised rates of knee implants. “We have given the work to our web team,” she said.
In Delhi, hospitals like MGS, Rockland, Apollo Spectra, Eden, Holy Family, Medanta, Moolchand Medcity, Artemis, Maharaja Agrasen and St Stephen’s hospitals have been held by NPPA for not revising the price list on their websites. Earlier this week, the NPPA had inspected websites of 21 hospitals for price capping and found them compliant. In Maharashtra, Food and Drug Administration is conducting separate inspections in private hospitals to ensure patients undergoing knee implants are billed based on revised price ceiling.
