Delhi mulls new insurance scheme for accident victims

The Delhi government is mulling a new insurance scheme under which accident victims will be treated free-of-cost, Minister of Health Satyendar Jain said.

“In accidental cases, time is the key and the patient should be admitted in the nearest medical facility by the police. We are coming up with an insurance policy where accident cases will be treated free of cost,” Jain said, addressing the Delhi Health Dialogue organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday.

PPP model He said the State government is trying to come up with plans to fully utilise the existing infrastructure in the government hospitals, besides adding features such as air-conditioning in all the hospitals and using public-private partnership (PPP) model for services such as Dialysis, CT scan and MRI. For such services rendered under the PPP model, the private entities would get 80 per cent of their payment within 48 hours, and the rest within a month, the Minister said.

Digitising records Announcing the Delhi government’s target to double the number of government hospital beds to 20,000 from 10,000 currently, Jain added, “Delhi should be the medical hub of India with so many doctors and institutes. We will digitise public health records in the government hospitals and then the private hospitals. We are asking doctors above the age of 50 to join hands with the government so that we can create a better healthcare ecosystem in the State.”

Daljit Singh, President, Fortis Healthcare, lauded the Delhi government’s progressive health plan based on a three-tiered delivery system, with focus on primary care on a platform of 1,000 mohalla clinics.