Several employees of the Turnu Măgurele Municipal Hospital revealed, under the protection of anonymity, that the unit would have practiced fictitious admissions to artificially increase its number of patients and, implicitly, the funding from the National Health Insurance Fund. According to them, the management would have asked them to bring documents of their relatives to be entered in the hospitalization registers, even if the respective persons did not physically present themselves at the hospital, ProTV News reports
In a recording presented by the quoted source, Monica Cuclea, the unit’s general manager, asks employees to contribute with hospitalized patients. The financial and accounting director, Ramona Vărzaru, also participated in the discussion.
“As you know, we don’t make our contract. (…) If the doctor comes and recommends hospitalization and you see that the patient doesn’t want to and doesn’t want to, you can also tell him: come on, you’ll be fine, at least for two days, and get some tests done”the manager states in the recording.
In the same meeting, management also suggested other methods: “You can also do private treatments, but you can also use this thing: we keep you hospitalized for two days and we also take you home, after… You see...”.
“Even we are told to internalize”
Some staff claim that the pressure was constant and bogus admissions had become common practice:
“Anyone who works in the hospital can bring an acquaintance… The patient doesn’t even have to come. He just comes with the card, the bulletin and the referral.”
How did they get the documents? Simple: “It could be grandpa, grandma, mom, dad… That’s usually how they get admitted! In the family!”
The admissions would have been documented, although the patients did not stay in the hospital:
“We are told that if we don’t have admissions, we don’t get our salaries!”
Patients “admitted” while on vacation in Italy
The investigation shows that including the financial-accounting director and her husband, deputy mayor in Saelele, were hospitalized for five days, although they were on vacation in Italy. Another patient, former deputy of IPJ Teleorman, appeared hospitalized, but was not found in the hospital.
On camera, manager Monica Cuclea denied the allegations.
CNAS confirms the phenomenon: “It is not correct”
Horațiu Moldovan, president of CNAS, admits that such practices exist in the system:
The hospital has 301 state-funded positions, and 80% of the budget goes to salaries. Small amounts remain for medicines and equipment.
The solution proposed by the Ministry of Health and CNAS
The Ministry of Health and CNAS are now proposing a broad reform: the reduction of unused beds, the development of outpatient clinics and harsh sanctions for fictitious admissions.
“You keep 80 inpatient beds for nothing, if you have 20 inpatients. You need to resize your ward,” explains Horațiu Moldovan.
Minister Alexandru Rogobete warns that “this practice in which we admit the patient to do medical tests must disappear. (…) These investigations can be done in a few hours in an outpatient setting”.
Starting this year, hospitals where fictitious admissions are discovered can lose 10% of the contract with CNAS, and the doctors involved can lose their jobs both in the state and in the private sector.
