The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released its first-ever set of guidelines to identify "fake patients" in medical colleges and healthcare facilities seeking approval for establishing new institutions or increasing undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) seats. This was stated in a report by PTI.
The move follows reports of some institutions admitting "fake patients" — individuals who do not require in-patient treatment — to meet bed occupancy and investigation requirements during inspections.
The guidelines outline several parameters for identifying such patients. These include a large influx of patients on the day or the day before inspections, admission of multiple patients from the same family, or patients presenting minor conditions treatable on an outpatient basis with oral medications.
Further, the absence of standard investigations like X-rays or blood tests, or lack of typical in-patient treatments such as intravenous fluids, injections, or catheterisation, are red flags. Additionally, assessors should be cautious if most children in paediatric wards appear playful and healthy without significant medical issues or if a large number of patients were admitted through preventive health check-ups or camps.
The NMC emphasised that indulging in the practice of admitting "fake patients" will be treated as a serious violation, inviting strict penalties under the regulations.
To address this issue, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) will deploy the best-qualified teams of assessors to ensure thorough evaluations. UG course assessments will span one or more days, while PG course inspections will follow a similar timeframe.
Inspectors will evaluate infrastructure, the quality of medical education, faculty attendance via the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS), clinical materials, and financial stability, among other factors, to ensure compliance with the latest NMC guidelines. Staff and students will also be interviewed during inspections.
Institutions established by the central or state governments applying for additional PG seats may be exempt from physical inspections, relying instead on self-declarations and document reviews.
However, these institutions must adhere to attendance and documentation guidelines issued by the NMC or relevant boards.
The NMC clarified that medical colleges must maintain faculty and staff levels as per the Minimum Standard Requirements (MSR) guidelines throughout the year. No relaxations will be granted, except in exceptional cases and only after following due process.
The commission hopes these guidelines will ensure better compliance with clinical exposure requirements for training students and prevent fraudulent practices during inspections.
