Ask all hosps to display rate charts, Dhanbad MP tells admin

Dhanbad: BJP MP Dulu Mahto has asked the Dhanbad administration to make it mandatory for all govt and private hospitals to display their rates for various tests and treatments.
In a letter addressed to the DC, the MP claimed that patients are facing difficulties due to exorbitant charges levied by many hospitals for similar tests and treatments. According to the MP, if hospitals display their rate charts, it would be more convenient for patients to undergo tests and treatments for a specific ailment.
Social activist Anil Pandey endorsed the MP's demand, stating that different hospitals were charging varying amounts for the same type of x-ray and other radiological and pathological tests.
Pandey said, “Patients are often prescribed unnecessary tests, and indiscriminate prescribing of antibiotics and surgery for birth are examples of hospitals treating patients like guinea pigs.”
Dr B N Gupta, president of the Dhanbad chapter of IMA, said it is challenging to standardise hospital rates as they are determined by the experience of the doctor concerned, the facilities available in particular hospitals, and other services provided by them. "It is not a shop," he said. He acknowledged that the rates of corporate hospitals were significantly higher than those hospitals and nursing homes run by individual doctors. Dr Gupta also suggested that the MP should have consulted the IMA, the body representing the doctors, before writing to the DC .