Some officers blocking move to digitise bills of private hospitals: AAP
NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that some corrupt officers are blocking the government’s efforts to digitise bill payments for private hospitals and labs, a move that is intended to bring in transparency and reduce graft in handling Rs 1,000 crore in annual payments.
The party alleged that some officers, along with the Lieutenant Governor (L-G), are advocating for a flawed Hospital Information Management System, which lacks crucial modules for Mohalla Clinics, the Delhi Arogya Kosh and Farishtey schemes, and outsourced labs.
The AAP has stated that the Hospital Information Management system was earlier tendered to an IT company.
However, after one year of engagement, they were not able to complete the work and hence, their contract was terminated in 2023. Thereafter, the new health minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, visited several hospitals where the NIC and C-DAC HIMS system was implemented.
There were discussions with both NIC and C-DAC about the specific requirements for developing modules of Mohalla Clinics, their outsourced labs, DAK and Farishtey schemes of the Delhi government. Both these Central government PSUs were asked to confirm if they will be able to develop modules for these flagship schemes of Delhi government. Only C-DAC has committed to this.
The health department is responsible for processing medicine bills of of suppliers and manufacturers, private hospitals for DAK scheme, and private outsourced laboratories. These bills run into more than `1,000 crore yearly. There have been regular allegations that a group of officers in the Department of Health would process the vendors’ bills only if their bribe demands are accepted.
The party said that last year, the then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had asked the department to enquire into these allegations.