A tussle is on between the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences and the Arogyasri Trust. While vigilance officers from the Arogyasri Trust visited Nims regarding payment of bills and patient care, Nims doctors point out that a few crores of rupees are due from the Trust and need to be cleared, including the purchase of medicines made outside the hospital stores. Sources said that a vigilance team recently visited the hospital to check on the admission, treatment and discharge procedures of Arogyasri patients. The hospital has around 250-300 Arogyasri patients at any point in time.
“The problem arises when patients have to purchase medicines from medical stores outside the hospital. With the Jan Aushadhi store closed and the contract for the other private store being over, patients have to buy medicines from outside the premises of the hospital and produce the bills for reimbursement.” In such a scenario, if a surgery costing Rs 99,000 is done and another Rs 1,000 is spent by the patient on medical bills, the entire Rs 1 lakh is stuck for clearance from the Trust to Nims until the receipt of Rs 1,000 worth of medicine bills is submitted. The hospital authorities have to go around, asking patients to produce these medicine bills on time. A few crores of rupees are pending for clearance from the Trust due to the delay in submitting bills.