Health scheme: Govt hosp staff may get 30% of reimbursed cost as incentives

BENGALURU: In a bid to encourage doctors and staff of government hospitals to widely implement the Ayushman Bharat-Arogya Karnataka scheme, the government is contemplating giving them 30% of the reimbursed cost as incentives, over and above their salaries. At present, they get 10% of the amount as incentives.

Health minister Shivanand S Patil said the move will increase staff’s commitment. “While 70% of the reimbursed amount goes to the hospital’s infrastructural needs, 30% can be given to the surgical team, including doctors and other staff. We have proposed to increase the percentage as a reward for those who work towards strengthening the state’s public health system,” Patil said.

This move will be unique to Karnataka, which has seen 14,000 procedures under the co-branded health scheme since October 30.

However, senior officials in the health department said that the finance department has sought a justification for the move and they are in the process of sending a reply.

Patient inflow up 40%

According to the health department, the number of patients seeking treatment in government hospitals has gone up after the launch of Arogya Karnataka in March 2018. “There has been a 40% increase in inflow of patients as compared to last year,” officials said.

It may be recalled that various health programmes in the state were brought under one umbrella scheme — Arogya Karnataka — with a rider that a patient has to first visit a government hospital for treatment. If the required treatment was unavailable in the government hospital, then the patient could be sent to a private hospital. There has been an increase in the number of deliveries and cataract surgeries among other procedures in government hospitals. Even after the scheme was co-branded with the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat, the referral system has continued, which is unique to Karnataka.