Hospitals can’t deny treatment to any emergency patient by considering the patient’s paying capacity.
The Odisha assembly on last day of its monsoon session on Thursday passed the Odisha Clinical Establishments (control and regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016.
Under this bill, any clinical establishment has to extend medical examination and treatment to stabilize the emergency medical condition of any individual brought to them as possible with the staff and facilities available with them.
Hospitals coming up on government land have to provide a fixed minimum percentage of free treatment to below poverty line (BPL) patients both in indoors and outdoors. The government will decide on the percentage of free treatment to the BPL families from time to time.
Although the government put pre-condition of providing free treatment to the poor while allotting land for a hospital earlier, it was not part of any Act.
Under the amendment, all private hospitals having even single bed has to register itself under the Clinical Establishment Act. Earlier, clinics having up to four beds were exempted from registration. The registration will now be valid for five years instead of the existing two years.
“This will reduce the workload of registration officials,” health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said.
Under the bill, all healthcare facilities irrespective of the systems of medicines such as Ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathy or Unani have to register them unlike the earlier norms only for allopathic hospitals.
Courtesy: The Times of India
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