Patients in Bengaluru demand transparency in hospital billing process: Study

A recent survey across Bengaluru found that approximately 42% of the patients in the past three years did not receive individually itemised bills from hospitals, making it challenging to re-examine the bill for overcharging or other issues.

Patients are entitled to an individually itemised bill for the consumables and services they avail themselves of during treatment. However, according to the survey, 29% of patients received a bill with only larger headings, like pharmacy, room charges and radiology, without breakdown into individual services and consumables.

Worse, around 13% of patients reported receiving bills mentioning only hospital packages, such as childbirth packages and others, instead of individual breakdowns. The survey collected responses from more than 2,000 respondents across Bengaluru.

Responding to another question in the survey, more than four out of five respondents demanded that the government of India create a standard format, via the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), of billing to be followed by hospitals, enlisting all products, consumables, services, etc.

Sachin Taparia, Founder of LocalCircles, the organisation that conducted the survey, claimed that while the bigger hospitals still follow the charter, smaller nursing homes continue to provide unitemised bills. “Despite being a fundamental right, it is being violated nationwide. However, if the Government of India, via the BIS, create a common standard, it can solve a bunch of transparency issues currently prevalent”.

On the contrary, Dr Ravindra R, Former President of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, claimed that most private hospitals already provide itemised bills. “It is the right of every patient to know about the charges of every treatment, and we try to satisfy the patients by explaining everything beforehand.”

He also added that for some of the standardised treatments, they have created packages that make it convenient for both the patient and the hospital. “We have created packages for some treatments based on their approximate costs, and in such cases, the bill mentions only that instead of individual items. However, if there are any inclusions and exclusions apart from the package, we will mention them separately and explain them to the patients.”

Speaking to DH, D Randeep, Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services in the Government of Karnataka, confirmed that all private hospitals are bound to declare the price schedule and charges per the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act.

Across Karnataka, according to the survey, more than 52% of patients claimed that they did not get itemised bills from hospitals, while 88% demanded the Government create a common standard.