Patiala, Sept. 9 -- The Punjab health department has capped the monthly empanelment fee payable to private specialists at Rs.2.5 lakh per specialist, following concerns over hefty bills submitted by empanelled doctors, which in some cases had reached Rs.5-6 lakh a month. The director health services, in an order issued on Tuesday, directed all civil surgeons in the state to ensure strict compliance with the new ceiling. Under the revised arrangement, the existing system of calculating the empanelment fee on a per-patient or per-service basis will continue. However, the total payment made to an individual empanelled specialist in a month will now be subject to an overall ceiling of Rs.2.5 lakh. "An upper ceiling of Rs.2.5 lakh per specialist per month has been prescribed for the empanelment fee payable to empanelled Specialists, as per the applicable terms and conditions," the order stated. The state government had started empanelling private specialists in December last year as a temporary measure to address the acute shortage of specialist doctors in government health institutions. Of the 2,098 sanctioned specialist posts in Punjab, around 1,000 were filled, leaving nearly half the posts vacant, according to official data cited earlier. In January, around 650 private doctors had applied for 300 advertised specialist posts. The empanelled specialists were subsequently engaged at district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and community health centres to provide specialist services and bridge the manpower gap. Under the earlier empanelment arrangement, specialists were paid on a per-service basis. The prescribed rates included Rs.100 per OPD/IPD patient, Rs.3,500 for major surgeries or Caesarean sections, Rs.1,000 for minor surgeries, Rs.500 for minor procedures, Rs.400 per ultrasound, Rs.1,500 for an emergency call and Rs.2,000 for anaesthesia during major surgeries. The issue of high payouts had been raised by the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), which opposed the empanelment of private specialists and questioned the financial prudence of the arrangement. . Hailing the Rs.2.5-lakh ceiling, the PCMSA said the government had assured it that the empanelment of private specialists was only a stop-gap arrangement to deal with the acute shortage....