The National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued a warning to medical colleges across India regarding the practice of admitting “fake patients” during regulatory inspections. Institutions found engaging in this practice may face consequences, including rejection of applications for additional undergraduate (MBBS) or postgraduate (PG) seats and new courses.
The directive follows reports that some teaching hospitals admit individuals without legitimate medical reasons in order to artificially increase patient numbers during inspection visits.
According to regulatory authorities, patient load in teaching hospitals is a key metric used to evaluate whether institutions have sufficient clinical exposure for medical students. Inflating these numbers can distort the assessment of medical training capacity.
The NMC has outlined situations that may indicate patients admitted without valid medical necessity. These include:
Admission of individuals without any clinical indication requiring hospitalization
Patients admitted solely for the purpose of showing bed occupancy during inspections without any blood investigations
Individuals registered as inpatients but not receiving active treatment
Admissions that do not follow standard clinical protocols or diagnostic requirements and mass admission from same family.
The commission emphasized that teaching hospitals must maintain genuine patient care records and adhere to standard clinical practices when admitting patients.
Medical colleges frequently apply for additional MBBS or postgraduate seats, as well as new medical courses. Approval from the NMC depends on several criteria, including:
Adequate hospital infrastructure
Faculty availability
Sufficient patient load for clinical training
The commission has warned that institutions found using fake patient admissions during inspections may have their proposals rejected when applying for seat increases or new programs.
Regulators view accurate patient data as essential for ensuring that medical students receive adequate exposure to real clinical cases.
To improve transparency and reduce dependence on physical inspections alone, the NMC is developing digital systems to monitor patient load in medical colleges.
Under the proposed system, patient data will be verified using digital health records and integrated databases rather than relying solely on inspection-day observations.
Authorities are working toward integrating hospital data with national digital health platforms, which could enable continuous monitoring of patient numbers and healthcare services.
One of the proposed methods includes integration with Ayushman Bharat digital health platforms and other government health databases.
Through this system:
Patient registrations can be tracked digitally across hospitals
Real-time data may provide accurate records of hospital admissions
Authorities can verify actual clinical workload in teaching hospitals
The National Medical Commission’s directive highlights increasing scrutiny of hospital practices in medical colleges. Institutions admitting patients without valid medical reasons during inspections may face rejection of applications for additional seats or courses.
Alongside these measures, the introduction of digital monitoring systems integrated with national health platforms aims to improve transparency and ensure that clinical training environments accurately reflect real patient care activity.
(Rh)