Proposed guidelines will cover fee display, receipts, overcharging, complaints and regulatory action against errant facilities.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain. Photo: Collected
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Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain. Photo: Collected
The government has taken an initiative to introduce specific guidelines for fees charged by private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres, aiming to prevent arbitrary charges for medical services and diagnostic tests.
Under the proposed framework, private healthcare facilities will be classified based on their service quality and capacity, and reasonable fees will be set for different medical services, tests and other procedures.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain disclosed the plan in a written reply to a question from Dhaka-5 MP Mohammed Kamal Hossain during the question-answer session in parliament today (7 September).
The minister said the Medical Practice and Private Clinics and Laboratories (Regulation) Ordinance, 1982 already contains provisions for determining and publicly displaying fees for medical services and diagnostic tests at private hospitals, clinics and laboratories.
However, changes in medical technology, diagnostic procedures, service quality, institutional classification, staffing, infrastructure and management costs have made it necessary to update the existing fee structure, he said.
To this end, the government is working to classify private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres according to their service quality and capacity and determine specific and reasonable charges for different services and tests.
The proposed policy or guideline will also cover the classification of facilities, fee-setting for services and tests, public display of charges, issuing receipts, preventing overcharging, complaint resolution, monitoring and legal action against violators.
The minister said the relevant wing of the Directorate General of Health Services is responsible for licensing and regulatory activities involving private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres.
He added that the policy will be formulated and approved after consultations with relevant stakeholders and necessary reviews.
“The government is considering the matter as a priority,” the minister said, adding that the policy would be implemented within the stipulated timeframe after completing the necessary administrative and technical processes.
The government is committed to taking necessary and effective measures to control arbitrary fee collection by private healthcare facilities, Sakhawat Husain said.
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