Cap CT, HRCT scan prices: IMA urges State government

HYDERABAD: With High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) or CT scan of the chest becoming a common procedure to detect Covid-19 infection and degree of damage to the lung, the Telangana chapter of the Indian Medical Association urged the State government to fix a price cap on the scans in private diagnostic centres and hospitals, as the ranging price Rs 3,500 to Rs 8,000 at these centres, is burning a hole in citizen’s pocket.

“I was experiencing extreme weakness, however, initially my doctor said it might not be Covid-19. After it continued for days, I decided to go for a CT scan as I could not wait for the RT-PCR results, which were taking more than two days. Following which, the infection was detected in one of my lungs,” said Dheeraj Reddy, 31.

“Daily we are getting multiple CT scan queries from patients, these inquiries are almost 70-80 per cent more compared to the last time. This time many who don’t even have a prescription are wanting to get a CT scan done and because there is demand, there are clinics that are carrying out these scans without asking for prescriptions,” said a enquiry desk staff member from Lucid diagnostics. 

Speaking to Express, B N Reddy, state secretary of IMA Telangana, said, “CT scan is definitely a good investigation method for determining the infection, however, it is not a mandatory test.” He added that healthy people should avoid these as they can get infections. 

Talking about the price capping, he said, “Some diagnostic centres are offering to do the CT chest scan for around Rs 3,500, which is the nominal rate. Patients who are already shelling exorbitant prices for the treatment and should not be forced to pay more for the basic investigations that can be helpful for them. This is why IMA is demanding the State government to put a price cap on CT scan in private hospitals and diagnostic centres like other States including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.”

Heavy demand for chest scans

The enquiries for CT scan, price ranging Rs 3,500 to Rs 8,000, has increased almost by 70 per cent due to multiple factors, including inconsistent results from RT-PCR tests, lack of testing kits and delay in results. Doctors say that with increasing demand, there is not enough time to properly sanitise the machines, opening up the opportunity for healthy patients can catch the viruss.