Balaji Hospital

Sudhakar Shinde

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana

angiography test

Arogya Mitra

(Clockwise from above) Sudhakar Shinde, the newly-appointed CEO of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, inspected Platinum Hospital and Hindu Mahasabha Hospital among others

After exposingofreveals anandofficials’ salary fraud in his latest crackdown.On a two-week surprise visit spree to 20 hospitals, Sudhakar Shinde, the newlyappointed CEO of the state-run health insurance company, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, has found that 30 patients across various hospitals were asked to pay for angiography, a test that is free under the health scheme. Shinde’s inspection has also revealed that even though five representatives appointed by the MD India insurance company to various BMC hospitals had quit their jobs, they have been drawing regular salaries for the past one year, costing the government Rs 10 lakh. While the angiography test money was refunded to the patients after Shinde’s inspection, investigation into the salary scam is underway.On May 28, Mumbai Mirror had highlighted Shinde’s crackdown on the 100-bed Balaji Hospital to expose irregularities in treatment of poor patients. Shinde, who took charge on May 15, had posed as a patient to bring to light the irregularities related to inflated bills, wrongly diagnosed health conditions/diseases and fudged medical reports and discharge summaries. During his crackdown, Shinde found that patients were allegedly being charged by the hospital despite payments being sanctioned under the government insurance scheme. Treatment in these hospitals is free for patients with an income below Rs 1lakh. Shinde suspended three Arogya Mitra officers, whose sole task was to prevent such malpractices.Shinde’s surprise visit list since May 19 includes Surana Hospital in Chembur, Parakh Hospital in Ghatkopar East, Hindu Mahasabha Hospital in Ghatkopar East, Platinum Hospital in Mulund, Mallika Hospital in Jogeshwari, Shivam Hospital in Kandivali, and Apex Hospital in Borivali, to name a few.“I realised that many hospitals were misusing the schemes, collecting money from patients and fudging medical records. So I personally started visiting each and every hospital. I will take stringent action against all the errant hospitals,” said Shinde, who has formed an eight-member vigilance team to look into irregularities in all the 52 empanelled hospitals in the city and its suburbs.“Of the 20 hospitals that I have visited, I found that patients were being charged for angiography in 10 hospitals,” said Shinde, who hasn’t yet taken action against these hospitals. “They have been warned but a second misconduct would call for serious action,” he added. However, after one such visit, one hospital in the central suburbs has requested Shinde for de-empanelment. “They don’t want to run the scheme on the pretext of renovation. I am surprised because I didn’t find the hospital undergoing any renovation work. In fact, it seemed to be in good condition. We had asked for more patient details, but the hospital itself surrendered the scheme,” Shinde said.Besides the angiography fraud, Shinde’s surprise checks have revealed a salary outflow to five Arogya Mitra officers appointed in two BMC-run hospitals; interestingly, these five officers quit in 2017. “Around Rs 10 lakh has been paid to MD India insurance company, a third-party administrator (TPA) for the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana,” informed Shinde, promising immediate investigation and action into this fraud.