Guidelines to regulate private hospitals set to roll out in December

The draft advisory was prepared on the basis of recommendations by a nine-member expert panel, headed by the then Director-General of Health Services (DGHS), Kirti Bhushan. The draft advisory said private hospitals can charge patients for medicines at the maximum retail prices mentioned in the National List of Essential Medicines, 2015, as their prices have already been capped.

On May 28, the Delhi government had proposed regulations restricting private hospitals and nursing homes from marking up the price of medicines and consumables over 50% of their procurement price.

The policy also prohibits private hospitals and nursing homes from refusing to hand over bodies over pending bills.
It also says that hospitals should ensure that rates of surgery packages are “transparent, without any hidden charges,” and disclose whether the package covers any complications during procedures.

The draft was placed in the public domain for 30 days for suggestions. “One of the suggestions stated that if a patient dies within 6-12 hours of admission, the hospital will have to waive the fee. This seems to be controversial and non-implementable. The committee is reviewing the draft policy and will submit it in a day or two to me,” Jain said.

The decision to form the committee was made following meetings by Jain with various professional and regulatory organisations representing doctors at medical institutions across Delhi.