Private doctors charge for free H1N1 tests done by government

HYDERABAD: Though tests for swine flu are to be conducted free of cost, private hospitals are charging patients for it.
Irrespective of whether a patient suspected to have swine flu is admitted in the state-run Gandhi hospital or a private hospital, the state government has been bearing the cost of the test, which is '3,500.
Swine flu testing is done free of cost by the government at the state-run Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM) or the government Fever Hospital.All private hospitals are mandated to send samples to the government labs for testing for swine flu.Private labs are not allowed to do this test.
While no patient has filed a complaint yet, enquires by TOI revealed that some of the city's top hospitals add the swine flu testing charges to the final bill of the patient. Most patients are unaware that the cost of the test is borne by the government.
“This is happening as there is no proper monitoring of private sector hospi tals to check whether they are collecting H1N1 testing fee charges from the patient or not. More than 90% of swine flu cases are being handled by private hospitals in the city,“ said a senior he alth department official.
During a review meeting on swine flu, chaired by principal secretary health Rajeshwar Tiwari two weeks ago, health department officials had sought permission from the government to collect fees from private hospitals sending swab samples from their patients for testing for H1N1 infection. Officials said that most patients visiting private hospitals could afford to pay the charges of `3,500.
Of the 22 H1N1 cases detected since January 1, only one patient is undergoing treatment at the state-run Gandhi hospital, while the rest are in private hospitals. From January 1 to 10, IPM has tested a total of 190 swab samples from patients suspected to have swine flu but only 22 tested positive.
Meanwhile, the staterun Fever Hospital, which is also equipped to test H1N1 samples, has been kept on standby. “If the load on IPM increases, we are ready to conduct tests for swine flu on samples. Not a single patient has landed up at Fever Hospital so far,“ said Dr K Shankar, superintendent, Fever Hospital.