Clinics and patients face issues over note ban

President of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Coimbatore, N Mahendran said that there are 400 hospitals in Coimbatore. Only ten of them are big hospitals while the rest are mid-sized. 

Admitting that the sector is hit by demonetisation, Dr Mahendran added that the association has asked members to accept this change. Physiotherapists claims more than 50 to 70 per cent drop in flow of patients last month. President of Salem Zone Physiotherapy Association Senthil Kumar said that they don’t get business that could afford having POS machines. 

K Mahadevan who has a clinic at Ramanathapuram said his fees is Rs 50 and with medicines the patients should only pay Rs 200 to Rs 300. “But they either have demonetised currencies or Rs 2,000 notes. We are accepting Rs 2,000 and demonetised Rs 1,000 notes. We make note of their fees, balance and contact details. The next day patients give us the fees and get back the old notes or we inform them to come and get exchange,” he said. 

“We get less than a handful of patients a day and charge Rs 150 to Rs 250 per session. We are taking the risk of accepting cheque payments,” he said. 

Physiotherapist G Bhuvaneshkumar said that most of his clients come for a package treatment for four to eight months. “Last month we had a more than 50 per cent drop in new registration,” he added.