No clarity on Aarogyasri scheme yet

 

From 60-80 Aarogyasri out patients in private hospitals, the numbers have dipped to 30 to 40 patients per day. It’s the same for government hospitals; Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences has witnessed a steep decline, from 80 patients daily to hardly 20 to 30 patients.

 

A senior government officer in Aarogyasri said, “With no clarity from the government regarding whether the scheme will be continued or scrapped, there is a lot of confusion among the patients. They are not sure whether they want to opt for treatment under the scheme.”

 

Earlier, Hyderabad was the favoured destination for healthcare and despite hospitals in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, patients came to the city for its facilities.  

But after bifurcation there has been a slight change. 

 

A senior government doctor explained, “With no clear ground, we are also not sure what to advise the patients. If immediate treatment is required then we are taking it up. But if it is a prolonged treatment we are referring them to their local empanelled hospital.”

 

It has been only 20 days since the bifurcation but some sections are already witnessing the low-turn out.

 

Aarogyasri chief executive officer D. Reddy said, “We are now taking the nativity of the patient into account. The bills for Andhra patients will be paid by the Andhra Pradesh government and for Telangana patients by the Telangana government. The patient can go to any empanelled hospital of both the states and avail of scheme. But the bills will go to the respective governments.”

 

There are 115 empanelled hospitals in GHMC limits and 20 per cent of their revenue is from Andhra Pradesh patients. Similarly, hospitals in Vijayawada get a good number of patients from Khammam, and Nalgonda patients are also known to go to Guntur region for treatment.

 

The division of patients is taking a toll on the administration officials who have to check and then log the patients in the network. 

 

A senior administration official in a private hospital said, “The nativity clause is now taking time for clearance. This is because the officers in Aarogyasri Trust have to verify and put the patient in the state he or she belongs to. They are internally re-checking before the final log-in to avoid any mistake.”

 

Any wrong entry will affect the concerned hospital as the reimbursement will be stuck between the two states. To avoid the dispute, administration officers claim that they have received strict instructions to check and re-check before entering data of a patient in either Andhra Pradesh or Telangana.