NHA launches empanelment for private hospitals for treatment of cancer, heart ailments

The National Health Authority (NHA) on Friday launched express empanelment for private hospitals to provide treatment for serious illnesses such as cancer and heart ailments. The initiative has been launched under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme.

"With the launch of this new mechanism called Hospital Empanelment Module (HEM) Lite, patients suffering from serious illnesses, such as cancer, cardiac issues and diabetes that require continuous treatment, will be able to continue getting inpatient services without the fear of contracting the infection," said a release.

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"As part of our effort in enhancing our capacity for serving beneficiaries of AB-PMJAY, we have designed and launched express empanelment of private hospitals on a temporary basis to strengthen the supply of care under the scheme," the release quoted Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO, Ayushman Bharat PMJAY and National Health Authority as saying.

AB-PMJAY started reaching out to the states, hospital associations and healthcare industry bodies with this new proposal to onboard private hospitals through a simple, quick and seamless system on a temporary basis, Indu Bhushan said. The scheme is said to cover more than 1,500 health benefit packages of procedures pertaining to secondary and tertiary care and hospitals are reimbursed at pre-fixed rates. The AB-PMJAY which is a flagship healthcare initiative of the central government provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh per family per year to around 50 crore poor and vulnerable individuals.

The NHA's initiative comes at a time when the nation is grappling with the deadly Coronavirus pandemic which has absorbed the nation's efforts and resources in fighting the deadly virus. The NHA's initiative ensures that during the times of crisis due to pandemic, the government is making all efforts to ensure that the patients suffering from serious illnesses such as cancer, cardiac issues and diabetes will not get infected due to the Coronavirus.

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Coronavirus cases in India

Meanwhile, as per health ministry, India has conducted 1,44,910 tests on 130,792 suspected COVID-19 patients in 146 government and 67 private laboratories, Agarwal said. The country reported 678 new cases and 33 deaths on Thursday, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 6,412, and the number of deaths to 199. Over 500 patients have recovered and been discharged. The number of cases has been doubling every 4.1 days, the health ministry had said earlier.

(With ANI inputs)