Chennai: Non-Covid treatment get costlier as hospitals take precautions

CHENNAI: Treatment in hospitals for reasons other than Covid-19 is now expensive. Many such patients are prepared for additional bills including PPEs, Covid-19 test and disinfection costs, some now covered by health insurance, but very few realise they may have to spend at least Rs 8,000 out of their pockets for attendants’ test and four-day stay.
Hospitals, like many other industries, are slowly resuming inpatient services including elective surgeries and invasive diagnosis.They now have new standards of practice and many insist that patients and their attendants be tested before admission. Attendants are not allowed to leave the hospital until the patient is discharged. “While most of my bills were covered by insurance companies, I had to pay Rs 3,500 on tests for my wife. She also had to spend Rs 200-Rs 500 a day for food and beverages,” said S Sathyamurthy who was admitted to a private hospital in Mogappair for angioplasty and stenting.
Hospital managements and infectious disease experts cite two reasons for this. “The risk of morbidity and mortality can increase by 20% if the patient has the viral infection. The attendant must be tested because he or she is staying in the same room. They can infect the patient or anyone else in the hospital,” said Dr Ilankumaran Kaliamoorthy, CEO, Dr Rela’s Institute of Medical Sciences. “We may have to close down a part or the entire hospital and quarantine dozens of healthcare workers if there is any outbreak. That’s the last thing you want during a pandemic,” he said.
Last week, Vijaya Hospital in Vadapalani suspended patient care services after nearly 50 of its doctors, nurses and other paramedics tested positive for Covid-19. The hospital will be subjected to disinfection and other infection-control measures as per government guidelines, managing trustee & chief executive officer B Bharathi Reddy wrote to all doctors and staff on Friday. In the last three months, large sections of the Adyar Cancer Institute, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Stanley Medical College and Hospital, and Institute of Women and Children had to be closed after patients and healthcare workers tested positive.
Some hospitals said they weren’t insisting on attendants being tested but wanted abundant precautions. “Sometimes treatment is delayed because patients can’t find attendants who can stay with them for a week. That could be fatal and we did not want that either,” said Miot Hospital director Dr V Bhaskaran. The hospital decided it would allow attendants in non-covid wards, but bar visitors and attendants of all patients in ICU and Covid wards. “In cases where we suspect risk we admit patients without attendants. But many patients feel they are comfortable only accompanied by a relative,” he said.