NEW DELHI: Apex healthcare industry body NATHEALTH on Monday said it has urged the Delhi government to mandate the hospitals to publish their treatment charges for COVID-19 in a bid to improve transparency.
In a representation to Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Kumar Jain on 'COVID Package Pricing', NATHEALTH also recommended the appointment of an ombudsman at zonal level to inspect the complaints of overcharging.
"NATHEALTH has urged the government to continue to push for a higher level of transparency by mandating hospitals to publish their treatment charges," NATHEALTH said in a statement.
The representation highlights the unprecedented challenges being faced by private healthcare providers in COVID-19 treatment, it added.
"Pricing is a factor of quality of infrastructure, level of services, medical protocol followed, brands of medicines used, skill and salaries of doctors and staff and more importantly the medical outcomes," NATHEALTH said.
The focus of treatment protocols in COVID-19 times has undergone a significant shift and hospitals need to equally ensure that healthcare workers are not infected while treating patients and hospitals themselves don't become hotspots, it added.
This responsibility has thus led to increase in cost of care, both for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients , the statement said.
The private hospitals under NATHEALTH have said they fully support the need for transparency of pricing to ensure that patients are not overcharged.
Equally, there is a necessity of being viable, ensuring no compromise in the quality of care and more importantly no risk to healthcare professionals, it added.