GPs term installation of POS systems unjustifiable

Rawalpindi : General practitioners and family physicians operating clinics in town have rejected the Federal Board of Revenue’s decision regarding installation of point-of-sale (POS) systems at their set-ups terming the decision unjustifiable as it may add miseries to the lives of poor people particularly those belonging to the middle and lower middle class of the society.

The offices of the assistant commissioners Inland Revenue have started issuing intimation letters to GPs and family physicians operating in the region asking them to integrate their enterprises with FBR approved/licensed computerised systems for real time reporting of receipts by ensuring all their payment counters equipped with POS systems.

Majority of the GPs and family physicians are of the view that private clinics providing treatment facilities to poor patients at low fees and even free of cost at time will be severely affected by the FBR’s decision of installation of POS systems at their set-ups.

It is hardly possible for small clinics operating in relatively smaller localities to follow the FBR’s decision of installation of POS systems without putting an extra burden on poor patients visiting the clinics for treatment, said Dr. Muhammad Suhail, a retired Principal Medical Officer from BS-20 who had served as Medical Superintendent at Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology.

Dr. Suhail who is running a private clinic in Rehmatabad Chaklala added that he is providing both the consultancy and medicines to his patients against much reasonable fee while well over 25 to 30 per cent of the local patients are provided treatment free of cost. In this situation, it may not be possible for me to install a POS system in accordance with the FBR rules, he said.

The clinics like that of mine are being run mainly for the welfare of poor patients in smaller localities, mohallahs and streets and most of these clinics are not earning hefty amounts of profits, he said. He added that the majority of these clinics do not charge fees from all patients, instead the consultancy and even medicines are given to non-affording patients free of cost.

Dr. Asif, President of Pakistan Medical Association Rawalpindi Chapter, when contacted by ‘The News’ on Saturday said the decision of FBR regarding installation of POS systems at GPs and family physicians set-ups is not feasible. It may be feasible for the set-ups providing consultancy alone as they charge a fixed fee for consultancy from the patients and have nothing to do with the medicines, he said.

Majority of the set-ups run by GPs and family physicians do not follow a system of fixed fee. At these set-ups, the patient is given medicines for one day generally and if he or she comes to the clinic the next day, he would have to pay for medicines only and similarly the patients reaching clinics in need of having bandages or getting injections are not charged consultancy fee, he explained.

Dr. Asif added that how is it possible for a clinic to install the POS system that will count every patient while the clinic is not charging an equal fee from all the visiting patients. In routine, the clinics being run by GPs and family physicians offer great discounts to the non-affording patients and most of the time, charge them for medicines only, he said.

He added the GPs and family physicians are planning to record their protest against the FBR’s decision of installation of POS systems at small clinics and it would put an extra burden on poor patients.