Published On : Fri, May 9th, 2014

Doctors’ Associations hail MMC move to terminate referral/commission practices

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Nagpur News: Various associations under the aegis of Indian Medical Association came under one roof to welcome a move taken by Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) to encourage stopping of referral fee/cut practice. The associations included IMA, Academy of Medical Sciences, Vidarbha branch of Maharashtra State Chapter of Indian Radiologist & Imaging Association, Association of Physicians, Surgeons Association of  India, Association of ENT Surgeons, Vidarbha Orthopaedic Society, Society of Urology, Vidarbha Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists.

“Most of the medical fraternity is following clean, ethical practice while there are only a handful of practitioners who resort to wrongdoings and ultimately spoil the name of entire fraternity. MMC has taken initiative to bring these doctors in line and we appreciate the initiative and fully support it,” said Dr.Sanjay Deshpande, President, IMA.

A letter from MMC regarding curbing unethical practices in medical field was issued to different organizations. Taking immediate call, the Vidarbha Radiology Association took the lead. The Association took all the efforts to sensitize the radiologists and successfully halt this unethical practice in many areas of Vidarbha including Nagpur. All radiologists of the region have participated in this movement.

The Radiologists Association held meetings with clinicians and regularized the charges of the different investigations. The overall charges of the investigations were reduced and enough precautions were taken to safeguard interest of the poor and needy patients by offering them sufficient concessions.

This movement is successfully being followed in process in Amravati, Akola, Nanded, Latur, Chandrapur and Washim. MMC is doing good cleanup job, which would be in the best interest of society, said Radiologists Association.

All the practitioners’ associations supported this initiative of MMC and requested their members to follow ethical practice. Presidents and secretaries of these associations have assured that the membership of a practitioner would be cancelled if he/she is found guilty of unethical practice.

“The focus is on policies to avoid harm to all medical service providers while simultaneously take action against practitioners who engage in such wrongdoings which is a key contributor to wasteful utilization of diagnostic services,” the associations said.

Those present during the press conference include Presidents and Secretaries various associations  including Dr. Sanjay Deshpande, President, IMA, Dr. S.J. Acharya of  Academy  of Medical Sciences, Dr. Madhusudan Sarda of Vidarbha branch of Maharashtra  State Chapter of Indian Radiologists & Imaging Association, Dr. Anand  Kate of Association of Physicians, Dr. Abhoy Sinha of Surgeons Association  of  India,  Dr. Vivek Harkare of Association of ENT Surgeons, Dr. Ravi Bhajani of Vidarbha Orthopaedic Society and Dr. Kailash Agrawal of Vidarbha Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists.