KURNOOL: A multi-crore scam involving the diversion of Aarogyasri cases from Kurnool GH to private hospitals by doctors for commission came to light after District Collector S Satyanarayana directed the Joint Collector and the District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) to conduct an inquiry into the matter on Thursday.
The Collector, who came to know about the irregularity when a WhatsApp message about the diversion of cardiac cases started circulating in the last few days, has directed Joint Collector V Prasanna Venkatesh and DM&HO Dr AVVRK Prasad to submit a detailed report.On an average, 300 patients in need of heart surgery get admitted to the Kurnool Government Hospital under Aarogyasri per month, but most of them are advised to go to private hospitals.
When a patient in need of either an open heart surgery or stent placement gets admitted to the hospital, the doctors generally perform an angiogram and then advise them to go to a private hospital. The doctors are said to use deception to give the impression that the patients themselves opted for treatment.
The doctors claimed the patients went to private hospitals dissatisfied with the treatment given in the government hospital.
The doctors who refer them to private hospitals are said to receive, on an average, `25,000 per patient as commission.Hospital superintendent Dr. P Chandrasekhar, who is also head of the department of cardiology, said it had been the case for the past 10 years and after he took charge a few months ago, he had put a check on the irregularities. The joint collector and district medical and health officer are likely to visit the hospital in a day for inquiry. Meanwhile, there is a rumour that the hospital superintendent secured a job for the wife of Joint Collector Prasanna Venkatesh in the hospital. However, the superintendent dismissed the allegation.