Bengal health panel: Release bodies in 5 hrs; hospitals seek surety on dues payment

KOLKATA: Hospitals cannot hold back bodies of deceased patients for more than five hours for non-payment of dues or while waiting for insurance claim approval, the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission ruled on Monday.If any hospital keeps a body for more than five hours, the reason must be documented and the commission informed. A violation of the order will attract penal measures.

While hospitals agreed that this was a humane approach, many administrators expressed concern that families of some deceased might take advantage of the order. They emphasised that there should be a mechanism for hospitals to realise the dues."You cannot hold back a dead body on grounds of non-clearance of dues or delay in insurance approval.

If a patient dies during treatment, hospitals will have to release the body within five hours, irrespective of the bill payment status. Non-compliance will attract penal measures," commission chairman Justice (retd) Ash-im Kumar Banerjee said.The regulatory body issued the order based on a complaint by Mudasi Parvez that CMRI took around 15 hours to release the body of a 74-year-old relative due to a delay in approval of the bill by the third-party administrator (TPA) that handled the claim for the insurance company.

According to the complaint, the patient died around 12.40am on Aug 12. The hospital reportedly said the body would be released the next morning once the TPA approval came. As the approval was taking time, Parvez requested the body be released for a ritual, which was to take place at 2pm on Aug 13. But the body was released around 3pm after the TPA settled the claim.‘Delays mostly occur when a patient dies at night, late evening’In this case, the body was kept for 15 hours in the hospital. This is a grave crime,” Justice (retd) Banerjee said.

Hospitals said such delays mostly occur when a patient dies at night or late in the evening, when the insurance/TPA offices are closed. The claim is processed only after the office reopens in the morning.“Holding back a body is not only inhuman but also illegal. At the same time, what about proposing an exigency cell by TPAs for bill settlement in death cases? Also, if the commission allows hospitals to take an undertaking from families of the deceased on clearing the dues, it would be of great help to hospitals and the families of the deceased,” said Sudipta Mitra, CEO of Peerless Hospital.Rupak Barua, managing director and CEO of Woodlands Multispecialty Hospital, admitted that the commission’s order was rooted in a humane approach, but pointed out that in a few cases, families did not return to clear dues or pay the amount not covered by insurance.“We do not have any intention to hold back bodies. In fact, we offer significant discounts, especially in cases of death. But some families do not even respond to calls for settling dues. While this order has a humane approach, hospitals should also be permitted a way of realising dues,” he said.