Delhi docs at heart of UK medical insurance scam

Indian doctors and their touts providing false medical certificates as part of an insurance scam for visiting foreign tourists have been named and shamed by investigating journalists of a British newspaper.UK medical insurers estimate that India accounts for at least six cases of medical insurance fraud every month worth lakhs of rupees. India is not the only South Asian country to which medical insurance scams are sourced. Earlier this year, a Pakistani-origin businesswoman, Rozeena Butt, tried to claim £2.2 million from insurers after pretending to die from dehydration in Pakistan. She was exposed when police investigators found her own fingerprints on her death certificate!India-centred scams are often promoted by touts operating from commercial centres like Connaught Place in Delhi, who work hand-in-glove with corrupt doctors, and in one case, even with the owner of an ambulance service.London's Sunday Times newspaper has identified a clinic in South Delhi where the doctor in-charge fabricated nine medical bills worth Rs 1,80,220 before demanding his cut of around 20 per cent. He even drove the visiting reporter to a cash machine so that he could collect his share of the bogus transaction. Afterwards, he commented, "Buy a bottle of beer and drink on the street. That's the best thing you can do in India."Although the doctor’s corrupt behaviour was captured on video, he subsequently denied he had done anything wrong, including given a false medical report. He told the Sunday Times, "It’s not possible on earth. It did not happen. We have a very strict system here. When a patient comes here we see what are the symptoms. I remember that guy (the reporter); he was having serious food poisoning. He had come from some other country, I don't remember from which place he had come. Try to understand, he had that disease… he was suffering from loose motions or something. Food poisoning is a serious disease in India."The newspaper also names a dentist based at a clinic in Delhi's Palam area close to the international airport. He also handed over fabricated medical documents falsely claiming that the newspaper's reporter had been hospitalised for six days suffering from dengue fever. The newspaper goes on to quote the dentist as saying, "There is an MD, medicine, at a hospital. I can get stuff made there. We can show you were admitted there for a few days. Kidney stones is one thing that cannot be proved, nothing show up (afterwards) for six days. The doctor charges 20,000 rupees and I will take some, at least 5,000 rupees. And we will show 1,50,000 rupees." DOCTORED MOVESIndia accounts for at least six cases of medical insurance fraud every monthScams often promoted by touts operating from commercial centres like Delhi’s Connaught PlaceFALSE DEATH CERTIFICATES TOO!The newspaper says there is an even more lucrative scam operated by the owner of a Delhi ambulance service. He charges Rs 60,000 for providing false death certificates. The ambulance service owner is quoted as saying, "It (the certificate) will be original, not a fake one. The certificate is prepared by an officer. A senior doctor will sign it with his own hands. It will all be genuine. These are official, government-approved documents."Link: Original Article

Overseas doctors to undergo language test for UK

Foreign doctors coming to Britain seeking employment will now have to undertake a mandatory English test before being allowed to work in the Nation Health Service (NHS).The General Medical Council is to get new powers to take action over concerns about a doctor's ability to speak English, the Daily Express reported.Health Secretary Andrew Lansley will use his keynote conference speech to unveil the measures Tuesday.The step follows widespread concern that many patients are struggling to make themselves understood by foreign-born doctors in hospitals, clinics and General Practitioners' surgeries. Lansley will announce mandatory language tests at a local level for doctors recruited to the NHS in England from overseas.All doctors will have to prove they can speak a good level of English before they are allowed to work in England.The proposals will ensure patients are treated by doctors who they understand and who understand them.NHS rules will be amended so health chiefs responsible for ensuring medical staff are trained and qualified have a duty to check English language skills.On Monday night, Lansley said: "There is considerable anxiety among the public about the ability of doctors to speak English properly."After 13 years of inaction from Labour to tighten up language controls, we will amend the legislation to prevent all foreign doctors with a poor grasp of English from working in England."If you can't speak adequate English, you can't treat patients."Link: Original Article

Health min rejects MCI proposal on UG medical degrees

All doctors, who have an undergraduate medical degree from abroad, will have to appear for a screening test before they can practise in India.

This rule will also apply for Indian doctors with post-graduate (PG) medical degrees from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.

Doctors with an UG degree from India and a PG degree from these six countries have been allowed by the Union health ministry to practise in any public or private hospital in India. They can also be a faculty member in any medical college without appearing for a screening test.

On Monday, the Medical Council of India ( MCI) proposed that those who have an UG medical degree from these six English-speaking countries should also be allowed to work in India without appearing for a screening test.

However, Union health secretary K Chandramouli rejected the proposal.

Dr Ranjit Roychoudhury, MCI's governing body (GB) member, said, "We had asked the government to relax the rules of appearing for a screening test for senior doctors with a lot of medical experience from these countries since their PG degrees are already recognized. But the suggestion was not accepted. The screening test will remain universal."

GB member Dr Sita Naik added, "With so many hospitals coming up in India, which already faces an acute shortage of trained medical manpower, we suggested relaxing the rules of the screening test for these countries. We felt it wasn't appropriate for senior, established doctors from these countries to be asked to appear for a screening examination if they wanted to work in India."

However, another GB member Dr Devi Shetty said, "We'll submit a proposal on Tuesday on how the government can allow selective screening. The proposal has not been shelved yet."

Union health ministry had recognized PG medical degrees from these six countries in 2007, which allowed a lot of Indian doctors settled abroad to return home. Prior to 2007, India didn't recognize the PG degree from these countries as recognizing it was a reciprocal gesture.

India had only recognized PG degrees of countries that acknowledged India's PG qualifications, like Ireland, Bangladesh and Nepal. Then health secretary Naresh Dayal had said, "This move will see a large number of Indian doctors return home to work. Many will come on sabbaticals for a short stint in teaching or even practise in public or private hospitals."

Experts were also optimistic about the initiative. 'India is increasing its number of PG seats and medical institutes are offering PG degrees. Six new AIIMS-like institutions are coming up. All these will require specialized faculty, which won't be available from the present pool. That's why we are trying to remove all barriers for Indian doctors to return to India."

India faces a severe shortage of doctors. There is one doctor per 1,634 people in the country.

Link: Original Article

Top U.K. award for Indian doctors

Two teams of medical professionals from India were awarded top honours at the British Medical Journal Group Awards distributed on Wednesday.

The award for ‘Medical Team in a Crisis Zone' went to ‘Doctors for You' for their flood relief work in Bihar in 2008; and the award for ‘Innovation in Health Care' went to Professor Subhashchandra Daga and his team at the Maharashtra Institute of Medical Education and Research Medical College for their work in neo-natal health.

The ‘Doctors for You' team, about 110-strong, worked over six months, complemented by social workers and other support staff, to mitigate the effects of the disaster caused by the rising flood waters of the Kosi river in Bihar in 2008. Beginning with delivering emergency and resuscitation care, they stayed on to treat 1,30,000 patients in 300 mobile health clinics, district hospitals and relief camps.

Award a boost

Vivek Chhabra, International Coordinator, ‘Doctors for You,' said: “The award will boost membership, community support, and motivation for the team's work and help in raising a Medical Humanitarian Disaster Team for South East Asia.”

Professor Daga and his team had to work around the reality of frequent power cuts and figure out how to keep newborn babies warm. They adapted polystyrene foam boxes that were used to transport vaccines to do the job.

They went on to use the boxes to transport sick babies to hospital. The team found that not only were the boxes easy to use for families, and traditional birth attendants, but also that they were safe and effective.

Low-cost device

“The BMJ Group Award will raise awareness of a simple and a low-cost device, the styrofoam box that keeps babies warm without using electricity. This device holds hope of survival for thousands of low birth weight babies born at home, in harsh weather conditions, and in poor and remote areas of the world,” Professor Daga said.

The BMJ Group Awards, held in association with the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland recognise and celebrate excellence in healthcare across the globe. This year, over 650 entries were received from across the globe for the 13 award categories, according to information posted on the website.

Link: Original Article

Don't visit doctors,email them: UK

Doctors in Britain are asking their patients to email their symptoms rather than making an appointment under a new scheme which aims to save the UK's National Health Service up to £ 1 billion a year.

The results would be picked up by doctors at the end of the day or during free time between appointments; people suffering from conditions like heart failure, diabetes or lung disease could even be asked to measure their blood pressure and then send the results.

The proposals are part of a pilot trial of 6,000 patients with longterm illnesses in Cornwall, Kent and east London. All participants have been given electronic devices to record vital measurements to be sent to the surgery and the results will be published later in the year.

In the scheme, doctors would make an appointment for the patient to come into the surgery if they are concerned by the results. In less serious cases, they will write back with advice.

Link: Original Article

Hundreds of herbal medicines to be banned in UK next year

As new European regulations come into force, hundreds of herbal medicines, except for a small number of popular products for 'mild' illness, will be banned from being sold in Britain next year.

With just four months to go before the ban is put in place, thousands of patients are set to lose access to herbal remedies that have been used in the UK for years, reports the Daily Mail.

From May 1 2011, traditional herbal products need to be licensed or prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner to comply with an EU directive. The directive was introduced due to rising concerns over adverse effects caused by many alternative medicines.

This means almost 2,500 qualified UK herbalists and Chinese medicine practitioners will lose the right to supply a wide range of herbal medicines, because they are not signed up to the statutory regulation scheme.

Herbal practitioners have said that the cost of obtaining licenses was beyond their means.

Many traditional medicines are made up of a number of herbs and the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) estimates the cost of obtaining a license at 100,000 pounds per herb.

According to ANH, no Chinese or ayurvedic medicine has been licensed.

But herbal practitioners have warned that patients may end up buying potentially dangerous supplies from the black market.

Link: Original Article

Bangalore and Pune fast emerging as hubs for teleradiology

Call it an innovative solution to skilled manpower crunch or simply a new paradigm of seeking medical expertise.

The diagnosis that saves a patient's life in some remote areas of the country and abroad is being made by radiologists sitting in their consulting rooms in Pune.

The concept of teleradiology (knowledge process outsourcing) is fast picking up in the city. More and more experts are interpreting digital images of MRI, CT scans, X-rays, etc and sending their interpretations to doctors practising not only in various parts of the country but also the globe.

Radiologist Abhimanyu Kelkar, head of the Omega MRI Centre at Poona Hospital and Research Centre (PHRC), says, "Shortage of experts as well as advances in telecommunication are fuelling the trend of teleradiology in Pune. Besides dispensing radiology related work of my unit, I see around 10-12 MRI scans every day coming from various parts of the country. I charge Rs 400-700 per scan. The digital images are usually being sent by diagnostic centres and private hospitals which have sprung up in peripheral and remote parts of the country. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to interpret a report."

Besides helping patients in remote parts of the country, there are some who even work for hospitals in the US and West Asia. "I interpret around 30 to 40 reports every day. A large part of them mainly comes from hospitals in countries like Dubai, Jeddah and also in the US," says Kedar Athawale, faculty in radiology at Bharati Hospital and Medical College.

Confirming the trend, senior radiologist Amarjeet Singh, former vice-chancellor of the D Y Patil University and former dean of the D Y Patil Medical College, says, "It is a win-win situation for both the parties. I personally knew a few young radiologists in Pune who do teleradiology work for hospitals in the US and to some extent in the UK." "Doctors in western countries accept our expertise. The reporting of our radiologists is always appreciated for accuracy of diagnosis. Besides, we have the efficiency of delivering the report within half an hour — much earlier than any other hospital abroad," says Singh, currently CEO of D Y Patil Medical College. But how does the process of receiving the work begins? "Both the parties come to know about each other through websites or international conferences," says radiologist Amit Kharat.

"Once a US hospital or clinic decides to outsource its teleradiology work, it initially starts testing the reporting and interpreting skills of the group extensively. The group which has high degree of customisation or subspecialisation gets high preference as their reports are more evolved," says Kharat who is also the owner Cyberteleradiology private Ltd — a company involved in teleradiology work in Pune and especially deals with hospitals in the US and European countries.

Sharad Agarkhekar, president of the city chapter of Indian Medical Association, says, "Going by the number of private hospitals and diagnostic centres coming up across the country, the unprecedented number of scanners and X-ray machines being sold and the large number of people going for preventive health checks, the shortage of radiologists has started showing up. That is the reason for the trend fast picking up in Pune, after Bangalore."

Link: Original Article