Search This Blog

Friday 10 July 2020

CGHS - IMPORTANAT Advisory from the Additional Director, CGHS, Bengaluru to the Pensioner beneficiaries


CGHS - IMPORTANAT
Advisory from the Additional Director, CGHS, Bengaluru to the Pensioner beneficiaries
Dr.Revathi M , A D , CGHS , spoke to S Radhakrishna Secretary over the  phone on 2 July 2020.
Dr. Revathi AD CGHS expressing her serious concern towards  the welfare of beneficiaries, specially the senior and very senior  beneficiaries, in view of the present   alarming Pandemic  COVID- 19 situation in the city , with the number of virus infected people getting bigger day by day, which includes  many CGHS beneficiaries also, she made an impassioned appeal to all to take utmost care in their health and stay home unless needed  to go out for reasons of health requiring immediate medical attention in case of an emergency.  The following are some of the advices given by the AD and information given on facilities available under CGHS.
1.      Beneficiaries above the age of 65 years, need not visit the CHHS Wellness Centres for collecting repeat medicines. They may send a member of the family or any one authorised by them who is young  to collect the medicines.  Medicines for 3 months will be issued
2.      Routine Tests which are not of urgent nature may be postponed for the present.
3.      It is noticed that old  couple are attending WCs together for collecting medicines which is not at all  advisable
4.      Telemedicine facility has been started as a pilot project in CGHS  Bangalore for beneficiaries above 60 years of age. 
Ø  WC- 6, Jayanagar and WC-10, C V Raman Nagar, have been identified for Telemedicine. Will be extended to other WCs if feasible.
Ø  Beneficiaries can consult doctors at the two WCs by seeking appointment online. 
Ø  The doctors will respond to the queries online and the beneficiary will get the prescription online to his registered email id.
Ø  The medicines prescribed can be collected in person or through any one authorised by the beneficiary within 4 days.
5.      If they cannot send someone to fetch medicines for them, they can purchase the medicines locally and claim reimbursement of the cost of OPD medicines.
6.      The last date for local purchase of medicines has been extended up to 31st July, 2020. So, medicines required for the months upto September 2020 can be purchased locally before this month end.
7.      Time limit for submission of claims for reimbursement has been increased to 6 months now. Further, in deserving cases, the time limit can be extended by another 6 months under the discretion of the AD.
8.      The validity of CGHS cards of those pensioner beneficiaries who contribute the subscription on annual basis, cards valid upto 31.3.20 and thereafter is extended up to 31.7.2020.  Similarly, the validity of the cards of serving employees who retired on 31.3.20 and thereafter will be extended up to 31st July, 2020 on their request Therefore, they need not rush to CGHS Office for getting a new CGHS Pensioner card.

ON COVID-19              TREATMENT
On my request to her,  to enlighten us about the facilities available under CGHS  , for  treatment of  beneficiaries afflicted with the virus Covid-19, she stated as below.
a)      Beneficiaries having symptoms of Covid-19, like fever, cough etc. need not go to the CGHS WC but must directly report to the fever clinic identified by the State government/ local body for advice and  allotment of bed in the hospital providing treatment for Covid-19 infection.
b)      Beneficiary or their wards need not go to the CGHS WCs for getting a referral for admission in  to  a private hospital  identified by the State government for Covid-19 treatment.
c)      On allotment of a bed in any of the private hospitals EMPANELED under CGHS,  the beneficiary will be provided with  CREDIT FACILITY by the empaneled hospital as per existing CGHS norms.  Necessary instructions have been issued to empaneled hospitals.
d)     If a bed is allotted in a private hospital NOT EMPANELED UNDER CGHS,  and the beneficiary is admitted there for treatment, the case will be treated as  'medical treatment in emergency ' and the beneficiary will get reimbursement of the medical  expenditure at the rates approved by the government.
e)      Beneficiaries, in case of any difficulty faced for admission in private hospitals, may contact the Sr CMO    I/C of their Wellness Centre over the phone or the  Nodal officer, Dr Ravindra at CGHS office.  Difficulty arises only if they go to the hospitals on their own. If they go through the designated fever clinics it would be easy for them to get the required medical attention.
GENERAL
a.       Seniors should avoid going out for purchase of groceries, vegetables, fruits etc. One member of the family can get the essential items from the market instead of many shopping together. Daily outgoings for purchases should be avoided.
b.      Strict social distancing must be ensured when there is absolute necessity of going out.
c.       Hand hygiene is very important to ward off any infection.

d.      Prevention is better than cure.
Stay home Stay Safe

S Radhakrishna


PROTOCOL TO BE FOLLOWED FOR TELEMEDICINE IN BENGALURU


§  Telemedicine facility has been started as per guidelines issued by Board Of Governers in Wellness centers 06(Jayanagar) and 10(CV Raman Nagar) of CGHS Bengaluru as a Pilot Project. Eligible beneficiaries may make use of this facility to obtain consultation and get valid prescriptions for continuous treatment.
§  Consultation by telemedicine is AVAILABLE ONLY FOR BENEFICIARIES ABOVE 60 YEARS.
§  Dr Ayesha Manika (Wellness centre 06 Jayanagar) and Dr Deepak Krishnaraj(Wellness center 10 CV Raman Nagar) will be available for Telemedicine consultation starting from 25/06/2020.
§  Kindly note that Telemedicine facility is limited for Wellness center 06 Jayanagar and Wellness center 10 CV Raman Nagar beneficiaries only. Services shall be extented to other wellness centers If feasible.
General Guidelines
Procedure:      
§  Beneficiary has to initiate the consultation by taking an online appointment.
§  The beneficiary needs to forward the appointment confirmation email to the Wellness Centre (wc10telemedicine@gmail.com or wc06telemedicine@gmail.com) from their registered email in advance requesting for Telemedicine. The beneficiary may choose to send recent relevant investigation reports.
§  If email has not been registered, the beneficiary may do so themselves by visiting the beneficiary login section of cghs.nic.in.
§  If beneficiary has not visited the same Medical Officer in person for the last 6 months period, then he/she is not eligible for Tele consultation with that Medical Officer.
Consultation:
§  The beneficiary may call the CGHS Wellness Centre on landline at the allotted time for online appointment and connect to the concerned Medical Officer.
§  The Medical Officer shall verify and confirm the patient's identity by name, age, address, email ID, phone number, registered ID or any other identification as may be deemed to be appropriate before proceeding with the consultation.
§  If the identity is not established, the Medical Officer may insist that the beneficiary calls from his registered mobile number or may call the beneficiary back to their registered mobile number.
§  The patient’s condition needs to be quickly assessed by the Medical Officer based on available inputs and the Medical Officer uses his professional discretion to decide if emergency care is needed.
§  If the condition of the patient merits emergency intervention, then advice for first aid/ immediate relief is provided and guidance is provided for referral, as appropriate.
§  If the Medical Officer is satisfied that he/she has access to adequate patient information and if the condition can be appropriately managed by tele-consultation, he/she would go ahead with the tele-management of the patient.
§  If the follow up is for continuation of care for the same medical condition, the Medical Officer would prescribe appropriate set of medications as indicated.
§  If the follow-up consult reveals new symptoms pertaining to a different spectrum of disease other than common conditions, then it will be considered as a first consultation which can be done by video consultation alone. Proceeding as first consultation in such cases is subject to the availability of video conferencing facilities and the discretion of the Medical Officer.
§  If the situation is NOT appropriate for further telemedicine consultation, then the Medical Officer may provide Health advice/ Education as appropriate; and/or refer for in-person consultation.
§  The Medical Officer can choose not to proceed with the consultation at any time. At any step, the Medical Officer may refer or request for an in-person consultation.
§  At any stage, the beneficiary has the right to choose to discontinue the teleconsultation.
Prescription:
§  The Medical Officer will use the CGHS MIS module to open the beneficiary details and go through the past history.
§  If the Medical Officer is satisfied with the follow up consultation, he may choose at his discretion to prescribe the medicines using the module including indenting of medicines.
§  The Medical Officer shall add the details of the teleconsultation in the notes highlighting ‘CONSULTATION BY TELEMEDICINE’.
§  The CGHS beneficiary will get the prescription online automatically to his registered email ID
§  They may also access the prescription by logging into the CGHS MIS beneficiary login and checking ‘Beneficiary History Track’. In case of any doubts or mismatch, the beneficiary may contact the Medical Officer.
Collection of Medicines:
§  The beneficiary should collect the medicines in person or through anyone authorized by within 4 days of the appointment.
§  The beneficiary may contact the CMO In-charge of the Wellness Centre for any grievance.