Weeks after constable's death, family gets Ayushman message saying he 'recovered'
A seemingly routine hospital message meant to reassure patients brought fresh anguish to the family of a Chhattisgarh police constable who died weeks earlier as it received a text saying he had “recovered" and was "returning home".
While the hospital authorities attributed the embarrassing lapse to a daily-wage data entry operator and said he has been removed, the constable's family demanded an inquiry and stringent action against those responsible.
Health officials also denied allegations that the patient's Ayushman card was misused after his death, and said deductions were made only for his actual five-day hospital stay.
The hospital administration has now written to the state nodal agency, urging that auto‑generated messages on discharge, referral or death be sent only after verifying the patient’s actual status.
Devnarayan Ram, 39, a constable from Jashpur district, was admitted to the government medical college hospital in Ambikapur, the headquarters of Surguja district, on June 26 and died during treatment on June 30, officials said.
His last rites were subsequently performed, and the hospital issued a death certificate, said Ram's wife Seema Kujur, a nurse at a government hospital in Jashpur.
But on August 6, more than a month after his death, Kujur received an auto-generated message under the Ayushman Bharat scheme on her husband's registered mobile number, saying: "Dear Devnarayan Ram, We are happy that you have recovered and are returning home. We hope that you will be satisfied with the free healthcare services provided under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana."
The message listed June 26 as the date of admission and August 6 as the date of discharge, showing the patient remained admitted for 42 days.
For Kujur, who had already lost her husband and performed his last rites, the message came as a painful reminder of her loss.
"You can imagine what it means for a family to receive such a message for a person who has died. It causes immense pain," she said in a video message that went viral on social media on Tuesday.
She demanded a high-level inquiry and strict action against those responsible.
"I am a hospital employee, and even then this happened to me. You can easily imagine what could happen to ordinary people, particularly poor and tribal families," she said.
Kujur also questioned how such a major technical lapse could occur and said action was necessary to restore people's faith in the healthcare system and ensure that such an incident is not repeated.
The hospital administration, however, said the message was generated because of a delay in closing the Ayushman claim on the portal and that there was no misuse of the patient's Ayushman card after his death.
The constable was treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) under the surgery department from June 26 to 30 and remained admitted for only five days. During this period, only ICU and blood transfusion-related packages of Rs 16,700 were blocked (for expenses) under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the hospital said in a statement on Tuesday.
No additional package was blocked after his death, it said, adding that Rs 4.74 lakh remained available in the patient's Ayushman card account.
Queries are generated at various stages of the Ayushman claim process, and the hospital has to upload documents and respond to them before the claim can be closed. In this case, the data entry operator responsible for monitoring the claim delayed the process, resulting in the claim closure being updated on the portal on August 6, the hospital said.
The update automatically triggered the message indicating that the patient had recovered and was being discharged.
Dr Shailendra Gupta of the Surguja district health department said the allegation that the Ayushman card was used for 42 days was "completely incorrect".
"The amount was deducted only for the treatment provided during the patient's actual stay in the hospital. No additional amount was deducted," he said.
Acknowledging that the matter was sensitive, Gupta said the data entry operator should have closed the case promptly but failed to do so.
The data entry operator, who was a collector rate (daily-wage) employee, has been removed, he said.
The hospital administration has also written to the state nodal agency in Nava Raipur, seeking measures to ensure that auto-generated messages concerning discharge, referral or death are sent only after the patient's actual status is verified.
