While doctors make money, nexus drills hole in patients’ pockets

BENGALURU: Meant to benefit patients, the practice of referring them to specialists for complications or advanced treatment has now become a money-spinner for doctors, show recent raids by the income tax department which have blown the lid off a major scam. By referring patients to corporate hospitals, physicians running smaller clinics get commissions.Meanwhile, the patient lands a huge bill.
When I-T sleuths recently raided a leading fertility specialist, it was found that the commissions ranged from 15-25 per cent. “That’s a marketing strategy for hospitals to get more patients. When it comes to such transactions, doctors have unity as it’s a win-win situation for them. However, the patient doesn’t realize anything is wrong even when the bill shoots up,” said a source.
A relatively new children’s hospital has hired many paediatricians as advisers, who don’t treat patients. “They are the ones who refer cases to the hospital. The payment they get in the form of cuts is in white money as the hospital ropes them in as advisers to make the entire process appear legal. The practitioners and hospitals have mutual understanding, and the arrangement is handled by their marketing teams,” said a doctor who was approached by many hospitals for the purpose.
“Bengaluru is a place for tertiary healthcare. It gets patients from across the state and outside too. This works to the advantage of many doctors who are part of the commission nexus. Their prescriptions bear the letterheads of the labs they have tied up with. They tell patients the letterheads will make it easier for them to locate the centres,” a source said.
The I-T searches revealed the raided labs’ undisclosed income exceeded Rs 100 crore and the referral fee in case of a single lab was more than Rs 200 crore.

‘Maharashtra working on a law’
Public health analyst Dr Sylvia Karpagam says commissions are common. “Maharashtra is working on a law to stop the unethical practice, and even Karnataka needs to do so. “Unfortunately, the KPME amendments don’t focus on this. It’s a bigger rot in the system. With PG seats bought for crores of rupees, it’s largely those with money who are getting into healthcare,” she says.
TIMES VIEW
The recent income-tax department raids on a fertility clinic in Bengaluru and several hospitals and diagnostic centres may have only exposed the tip of the iceberg. Patients have long suspected that there’s something seriously amiss in the referral process followed by many doctors, labs and hospitals but had no way of confirming it and stopping it. With the I-T raids unearthing undisclosed income running into crores of rupees, it’s high time the Medical Council of India and all its affiliate state units cracked down on errant professsionals. Patients deserve a better deal when it comes to healthcare.