Kolkata: All private hospitals in Kolkata have been asked to join Ayushman Bharat panel through the online portal ‘as soon as possible’ by the state health dept. At a virtual meeting on Tuesday, Swasthya Bhavan officials interacted with representatives of over 350 private hospitals and nursing homes across the state, including Kolkata. It was attended by three-four senior health officials along with a technical team that instructed hospital representatives on logging on to Ayushman Bharat portal and completing formalities online to get empanelled.Several private hospitals in Kolkata, including Ruby General, HCG Cancer Hospitals, Desun Hospital, Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital and Peerless Hospital, are already on the Ayushman panel. Others like Charnock Hospital are in the process of joining.Last week, CM Suvendu Adhikari announced that Ayushman Bharat will be introduced in the state, leading to speculations on the future of Swasthya Sathi, the universal health scheme launched by the Trinamool govt in 2016.While the modalities of the launch or whether the scheme will be merged with Swasthya Sathi were not specified, hospitals were asked to log on to the portal as soon as possible.Sources said hospitals were assured that while Swasthya Sathi will continue, an integration of the existing scheme with Ayushman will be worked out in due course. “There were three to four officials and some technical experts who guided us on how to log on and complete formalities. It seemed to be an easy process and can be completed in a week. There was some confusion at the beginning as a large number of establishments joined in and the officials were not sure if they were invited through a link,” said a private hospital representative. He added that health officials mentioned that the empanelment must be completed soon.Swasthya Bhavan earlier sent videos on empanelment process to help hospitals link to the portal. The meeting on Tuesday featured more videos that illustrated the linking process step by step.“We were at the virtual meeting and will join the portal soon. It will be easier for us since we are on the CGHS platform and empanelment is a similar one and should be quicker for us. For our second hospital — Charnock Lohia — we will put in a fresh application,” said Prashant Sharma, MD of Charnock Hospital and president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Committee.Woodlands Hospital completed the process of joining panel this week, said CEO Rupak Barua. “There are hundreds of facilities across the state that are struggling with online process. They need to be roped in quickly for Ayushman to take off. We also believe that an integration process is being worked out,” added Barua, also president of Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI).A representative of Ruby General Hospital joined the meeting though it is already on the panel. “While technical details of empanelment were explained, modalities were not discussed,” said Ruby General chief operations manager Subhasish Datta. HCG Cancer Hospitals, too, are in the process of joining. “For any health scheme to be practical and sustainable, package rates must be realistic, subject to annual revision, and payments to healthcare providers must be regular,” said Rupali Basu, regional business head – East & AP, HCG Cancer Hospitals. The AHEI is planning to approach the state with a plea for an inclusive scheme that will reach out to the majority of the population. “While Swasthya Sathi is still on, it must be replaced in a phased manner by Ayushman Bharat. An ideal situation would be a merger like Odisha,” said Barua.
