Are your hospital bills treating you well?

Anybody who has had the misfortune of being admitted in a hospital will complain of hefty bills at the end of their treatment. It is arguably a standard practise all over the country as far as private hospitals go. PT came across scores who had ended up paying more than they were supposed to during their visits to these "top class" treatment centres.When Jay Arora*, a software engineer, injured his nose in a cricket match, little did he know that his treatment would also involve an AIDS test. The test was part of the hospital''s procedure and Jay was slapped with a huge bill at the end of it all. A classic example of the proverb — paying through one''s (broken) nose.
Shalini''s case was not as severe as Jay''s. This 19-year-old student was involved in a road accident and was admitted to a top hospital. "When people picked me up and asked me my name, I wasen''t in a state to give my full name, so I must have muttered my home name," she grumbles. "The people admitted me under the name they were told. The hospital guys did not object then, but later fined me Rs 2,000 because my legal name was something else," she adds.
Reena Kumar, housewife, had some complications during her pregnancy. The doctor advised her to get admitted for a couple of days. During the course of her stay, a dietician asked her several questions about what she would like to eat even though she had home-cooked food being brought to her. In the end, she was made to pay for the dietician''s services, which she felt, she didn''t require.
However, the doctors of the city feel that apart from a few unfortunate incidents, the hospitals'' stand is justified. Dr Bomi Bhote of Ruby Hall, says, "Today, there are some very advanced equipments available for more accurate diagnosis and doctors conduct tests to ensure that there is no chance of anything going wrong. Will a patient''s family spare the hospital and the doctor concerned, if anything were to fall short with his treatment?"
He feels that there are bad elements in every profession and cases of overcharging, including administration of unnecessary tests in small medical centres. But these are often hand-in-glove with each other to make money."
As for the AIDS tests, Dr Bhote says, "Most hospitals conduct them as a basic requirement for the safety of the patient and those around such as the nurses and fellow patients."
Dr Parag Bhide of Bhide Hospital says that it''s only in the event of a failure of a surgery or death of the concerned patient that families complain of having felt cheated or overcharged. "At other times, patients often compare themselves to fellow patients. If a patient''s neighbour requires no diet advice, that doesn''t mean he doesn''t either. In cases of diabetes or other such complications, a patient requires diet inputs and can be charged for it if it''s a separate department," he says.
"Sometimes a hospital is not equipped for a particular test and refers the patient to another hospital or diagnosis centre. In such cases patients misinterpret this as being taken for a ride, but that''s certainly not the case," he concludes.
anuradha.kher@timesgroup.com