Khyati hospital deaths: SOPs to also cover radiology, chemotherapy, knee replacements

Ahmedabad: After new standard operating procedures (SOPs) were announced for cardiology on Wednesdsay, sources said that radiotherapy, chemotherapy and total knee replacement, conducted under the Prime Minister Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) too will be brought under the SOPs' ambit. The move is being seen as a way to curb misuse of govt healthcare schemes, after angioplasties, allegedly without the need, led to the death of two patients at Khyati Multispeciality Hospital in Ahmedabad.

The sources in the state health department said that knee replacement and cardiology procedures are some of the most common ones covered under PM-JAY and have the highest number of claims. "The hospitals will have to justify the emergency in these procedures and reasons to carry them out, in terms of medical reports and findings of the examination and the treating doctor," the sources said, adding, "The SOP being formulated will be applicable to all hospitals providing treatment under govt schemes."

In the case of Khyati hospital, it came to light that at a medical camp near Kadi, hospital authorities chose patients with PM-JAY cards, and their families' consent was not taken before angiographies and subsequent angioplasties were conducted on them. Sources said that the registered hospitals will be directed to ensure that there are no procedural lapses.