Medical Reform Has Two Side EffectsThe recent reform of medical charges in East China's Shandong Province has failed to satisfy everyone - especially the customers.Mr Zhang, a local citizen who was seeing a doctor at Jinan Central Hospital, for example, complained that medicine prices were still too high, and that two colds had cost him more than 400 yuan (US$48.4). On Friday, Shandong kicked off a medical charge reform policy to clear, standardize or adjust 4,664 charging items in hospitals. The new standards added three new kinds of fees that take into account the cost of medical workers: diagnosis fees, hospitalization diagnosis fees and nursing fees. Costs of registration, hospitalization and surgeries have risen, while charges for some big medical facilities have dropped. "These are the changes we have wanted for years!" most hospital presidents would say. Kang Yongjun, president of the Qianfuoshan Hospital, said hospitals were charging according to 1994 rates, or even those in the 1980s. But as time goes by, updated medical services can no longer exist with old funding. Zang Yixiu, vice-president of the Jinan Central Hospital, said in the past medical charges had differed from city to city, and sometimes the difference was so big that people had no idea how much medicines would cost them. Complaints were often made. "Detailed standards across the board mean that such differences in costs will not exist anymore," said Zang. The reform provoked much reaction among doctors. Su Guohai, a doctor in the central hospital, said new measures meant doctors had to be more technical and that their workloads were increased in an effort to improve techniques. "In the past a patient paid only 0.7 yuan (US$0.08) to have a check-up," Su said. "This is because our labour used to be too cheap." Several patients who were queuing in front of the radiotherapy department said they had benefited from the new policies because it now cost 50 per cent less for a CT check. Nevertheless, most people go to hospital for common diseases and do not need CT or ECT checks. Instead, they need lower prices for medicines. Zhang Xinmin, an official from the Provincial Drug Bureau, said the decline would depend on getting rid of the old medical systems which had hindered free competition between drug sellers. He said reimbursement procedures from social systems would also have to be changed. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |