[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 2 Jul: One of the main problems that people face while availing popular health schemes like the Chief Minister Arogya Arunachal Yojana (CMAAY) and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is lack of information on how to avail them.
Not many are aware of the fact that, in the hospitals empanelled under the CMAAY and the PMJAY, the authorities have posted ‘arogyamitras’, whose job is to guide and act as facilitators for the patients.
The arogyamitra have been placed at the empanelled hospitals and are supervised by the district coordinator and monitored by the district implementation unit in the districts. In the hospitals outside, they are supervised by the project manager of the management support providers and monitored by the CMAAY society directly.
The arogyamitras maintain CMAAY helpdesks at the empanelled hospitals and guide the beneficiaries, receive and reply queries on the CMAAY/PMJAY, and enable conversion of admitted patients as beneficiaries of the schemes.
Further, they operate the CMAAY portal to identify and verify the beneficiaries under the CMAAY. They also help in emergency enrolment of beneficiaries. Most importantly, they liaise with the hospital coordinator/administration to facilitate consultation, early evaluation, and posting for surgery/treatment.
The arogymitras working in the field say that lack of awareness about the CMAAY and the PMJAY among the citizens is a major challenge for them.
“Majority of people still don’t know about these schemes, despite the wide publicity done by the government. Therefore, when a patient is admitted in an empanelled hospital, we go to them and ask whether they have enrolled under the CMAAY or the PMJAY. Based on it, we extend support to them,” said an arogymamitra from West Kameng district.
He added that another major challenge is lack of awareness among the citizens about the process of how these cards work.
“When a patient is referred outside for treatment, they directly go outside and start seeking treatment under the CMAAY at random hospitals, without following the referral process. But there is a process to be followed. First of all, they have to get a referral certificate from the hospital and the doctor concerned. Secondly, they should go to those hospitals which are empanelled under the CMAAY,” he informed.
Another issue is that patients want to avail facilities using these cards for medical check-up. But as per norms, these cards can be used only if the patient is admitted in a hospital.
“These are major areas where maximum cases of misunderstanding take place and people start alleging that the cards are of no use. They should contact us arogymitras and get their doubts cleared,” he added.
Quite often, the people do not carry their CMAAY or PMJAY card at the time of admission in a hospital, which creates unnecessary hassle in availing the benefits.
“One of the main issues is that people do not carry the card at the time of coming to hospitals. During an emergency case, it creates a problem. I appeal to the people to download the card and always carry it in their money pursuit,” said the arogyamitra of Lower Subansiri district.
He added that there are plenty of misgivings about these schemes. “These schemes are packaged-based. But people start assuming that they can use it for any random treatment and often get angry when they are told that the card also has its limitations. Also, convincing them to enrol is tough. Most think that it is of no use and therefore do not enrol,” he added.
