No need for permission to use external OPD if no ESI hospital within 10 Km radius: ESIC

New Delhi, Dec 9 (KNN) Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has taken several significant decisions to improve its delivery of medical services and other benefits to workers.

''In view of demand fr0m both workers and employees and with the objective to provide better medical services to beneficiaries, ESI Corporation in the meeting held on Monday has decided to directly run by itself all newly constructed hospitals and those that are approved in future unless the State Government insists to run the hospital,'' an official statement said on Tuesday.

Keeping in view the increase in ESI coverage over the recent years and the absence of ESI’s own medical infrastructure in several areas, the ESI Corporation has now decided that in areas where ESI infrastructure is not available within a radius of 10 kms, the beneficiary can avail medical consultation for OPD services directly fr0m a hospital empanelled with ESIC or with Ayushman Bharat without the need for referral fr0m an ESI dispensary or hospital, it said. 

In such cases if admission for indoor treatment is required, the empanelled hospital will obtain time bound permission fr0m the ESI approving authority through an online system.

Super speciality services in cardiology including nephrology, urology and oncology will be strengthened in select ESIC hospitals in Delhi/NCR and this will be extended to other ESIC hospitals across the country in a phased manner.

''ESIC will engage Hospital Managers with specialisation in hospital management or hospital administration or health care administration for maintenance, housekeeping, patient assistance, patient safety and other ancillary activities in ESIC hospitals across the country,'' the statement added.

ESIC will also engage the services of project management consultants for monitoring and facilitating execution of hospital and dispensary construction projects of ESIC fr0m the stage of concept plan to the commissioning of the project.

The ESI Corporation has also decided to extend the relaxed conditions and the enhanced benefit of 50 per cent of the average per day earning up to a maximum of 90 days under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana to the insured workers who became unemployed due to COVID-19 induced lockdown for a further period of six months i.e. up to 30th June, 2021. 

The eligible workers can file their claims on the ESIC portal (www.esic.in) with the mobile number, Aadhaar and bank details.