Hospitals given Bt254m for emergency treatment costs

The country's three main health schemes paid Bt254 million to hospitals nationwide for emergency medical services for the past nine months, a top official at the National Health Security Office said yesterday.

Netnapis Suchonwanich, assistant secretary general at the National Health Security Office (NHSO), said she outlined emergency treatment payments from the three schemes to a recent meeting of the NHSO board. The schemes had paid Bt254 million or 31 per cent of the total Bt813 million that they have to reimburse to hospitals for emergency medical treatments.

Of the Bt254 million, NHSO advanced Bt121 million for the scheme under responsibility of Social Security Office (SSO) and the healthcare-benefit scheme for civil servants and their families under responsibility of the Comptroller General's Department (CGD) to reimburse the hospitals. But, SSO and CGD had not yet paid NHSO back because relevant regulations were in the process of being changed, Netnapis said.

She said that 14,525 people covered by the three schemes underwent emergency treatment 15,708 times from April 1 to December 31, 2012. Of these, 49 per cent or 7,731 were under the scheme for civil servants and their families, 44 per cent or 6,878 were under the NHSO's scheme and 7 per cent or 1,063 were under the SSO's scheme. Another 36 people were under other schemes.

Most of the illnesses found among emergency patients were respiratory diseases, severe abdominal pain, diarrhoea, inflammatory bowel, appendicitis, unconsciousness, cases who had stopped breathing, cardiovascular diseases, high fever, exhaustion, plus neurological and brain diseases, she said.

Netnapis said Ramkhamhaeng Hospital had received the top reimbursement of Bt18 million, followed by Thonburi Hospital (Bt10 million) and Kasemrad Hospital Rattanatibeth with Bt7 million.

Public Health Minister Pradit Sinthawanarong said 40 per cent of patients who underwent emergency treatment did not fully understand their rights under their scheme. This prevented patients from being reimbursed for medical payments. More people had to be educated in their rights and reimbursements.