Srinagar: Kashmir Private Diagnostic Centres Association J K has called upon the government to frame a new rate list for carrying out different tests as the present prices list was framed a decade ago.
In a statement the association said that the consumers pay for various diagnostic tests in Kashmir is not governed by any rate list, leaving ample scope for over-charging and profiteering.
The last rate list was framed in 2012, and was never implemented and disparity in rates of biochemical, radiological, microbiological, pathological and other tests is rampant in Kashmir. Stakeholders have for a long time demanded a regulatory mechanism in the market to help patients. “A patient does not know about tests. Once they go to a lab, they are charged as the lab finds fit. There is no one to check the prices of the tests,” a senior doctor spoke to us . He said, any test, from the most basic to the advanced, must have a cap price, above which no lab should be permitted to charge. “However, nothing of that sort exists. So much is being talked about the rate list of consumables, but no one talks about the rate list of diagnostic tests, an area that can incur catastrophic costs for a patient,” he said.
President of Association Rouf Rangraze spoke and said a rate list had been framed in 2012 by the Health and Medical Education Department Kashmir. “However, due to litigation the rate list was not implemented,” he said. The member said that since 2012, neither was a new rate list framed, nor was the one that was framed implemented. “The Governments over the years have slept on it,” he said.
Kashmir Private Diagnostic Centers Association J K said that there was a desperate need of such a rate list for all medical investigations. “This will help in smoothing the function of diagnostic centers and help the consumers,” Rouf Rangraze, President of the Association said.
He said that the rate list, when framed, must be mandated to be displayed in the labs. “That way every consumer gets a uniform rate for the tests. This also adds to the trust bond between consumer and the lab,” he said.
Rouf Rangraze said“Our demands for the rate list have gone unheard over the years,” he said, adding that the cap price that was set previously was also higher than the market prices. “This is an important area and we appeal to the Government to address this issue on priority,” he said.
The association requested Principal Secretary JK Government, Health and Medical Education Manoj Kumar Dwivedi to look into it.

KR Desk