Lucknow: Now, private hospitals to enrol online for Covid services

LUCKNOW: Private hospitals in the city willing to provide Covid-19 services will be able to apply online on government websites for empanelment from Monday. The new system will replace the manual process which was being followed so far.
The move is expected to cut short the process of getting registered as Covid care facility, increase Covid beds and prevent overcharging by private hospitals.
The new system has been put in place on the recommendation of Lucknow’s Covid-19 nodal officer Roshan Jacob in view of the warning that the third Covid-19 wave could be more severe than the second, which left the city devastated with Covid-19 patients struggling to get hospital beds and oxygen.
While some had to manage on their own at home, many who got beds in private hospitals later complained about being charged several times more than the rates fixed by the government. Some patients died due to lack of enough facilities.
As of now, of 691 private hospitals and nursing homes in the city, only 59 are designated as Covid facilities by the authorities.
According to district administration officers, when the pandemic surged in April, some families with critical Covid-19 patients opted for non-Covid hospitals out of desperation after failing to get a bed in Covid facilities.
Some of these non-Covid private hospitals took advantage of the situation and admitted patients with Covid-19 symptoms for treatment without getting them tested for the disease.
These hospitals avoided the test because it would have made it obligatory for them to send patients to a Covid facility. Instead, they continued to treat patients and later charged them excessively.
Further, since these private hospitals were not designated Covid facilities, the rates fixed by the government did not apply on them. As a result, officers also couldn’t take any action against these facilities.
Besides, there were hospitals which had applied for being empanelled as a Covid-19 facility, but are yet to be approved by the chief medical officer’s office.
“Simplification of the registration process will encourage more private hospitals, which have required facilities and are willing to join the battle against Covid-19, to get themselves empanelled. This, in turn, will increase the total bed strength available for Covid care in the city at the time of third wave of Covid-19. Also, when more private players will be around, it will increase competition and hospitals will be compelled to keep the cost of treatment low,” Jacob told TOI.
Now, private hospitals can apply online for empanelment at www.dgmhup.gov.in and upload all the required documents. Approval will be given online and a physical verification of facilities will be done later.