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The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and AMRIT Pharmacy have jointly reported a serious incident involving the misuse of a stolen indent book and counterfeit stamps to divert medications intended for patients enrolled in the Ayushman Bharat cashless scheme.
The unauthorised individual was apprehended on February 18, 2025, and subsequently handed over to local police authorities for further investigation. According to sources, in February a young man was caught by the PGIMER security personnel using a fake stamp and claiming Rs 60,000 for medicines under the Ayushman Bharat scheme from the AMRIT Pharmacy. An indent book of the Department of Urology, along with eight counterfeit stamps of various departments of PGIMER, was recovered from him. He told the police that he was working for someone in Saharanpur, who was using the indent book and fake stamp of PGIMER to get medicines worth crores under the Ayushmaan Bharat Yojna and sell it to medical stores and had access to patient data of the institute. The case is now with the Crime Branch and investigation is on to probe the nexus and the extent of this fraud.
In response to this fraudulent activity, the PGIMER and AMRIT have jointly filed a formal complaint with the relevant law enforcement agencies and have established an internal committee tasked with investigating the matter and providing recommendations to prevent future occurrences.
To safeguard the integrity of the healthcare services, the institute is implementing various measures.
Transition to online indenting system: The existing manual indenting system for patients under cashless schemes will be discontinued and replaced with a secure online indenting process. The computer section of the PGIMER, in collaboration with the internal committee, has developed a solution to be integrated into the existing Hospital Information System (HIS 1) and the transition is expected to be completed within one week.
Dedicated service area for cashless beneficiaries: A designated area outside the Emergency department has been identified for AMRIT to exclusively serve beneficiaries of cashless schemes, including Ayushman Bharat.
Enhanced manpower for improved service: The PGIMER will work with AMRIT to increase staffing levels to ensure that medications and implants processed through the new online system are delivered directly to patients at their bedside.
According to the official spokesperson of PGIMER, the institute is committed to providing quality medical care and is assisting the police authorities in every way in their efforts to find the culprits trying to exploit the institute and tarnish its image.
In 2023-24, the PGIMER provided treatment to the 32,000 Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries with a package amount of over Rs 130 crore, ensuring that the most patients in Union Territories received essential medical treatments.
In 2004, as many as 5,000 kidney transplants were done, with 100 under the Ayushmaan Bharat scheme, providing huge relief to patients. In 2023-2024, Rs 21.2 crore was provided to needy patients through government schemes and social initiatives, and its Poor Patient Welfare Fund Rs 3.24 crore was disbursed to support poor patients. The institute operates seven Amrit Pharmacy centres, the highest in any public-sector hospital in India.
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is a health assurance scheme that aims to provide a health cover of Rs 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation. The scheme covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalisation and 15 days of post-hospitalisation expenses.
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