2017年CRI Beijing launches medical reform, separating hospital service from pharmacy

 

A flie photo of pharmacy¹ [File photo: Chinanews.com]

A new medical reform program is officially underway in Beijing as of this Saturday, with expectations the policy changes will end up giving patients more healthcare options and more access to the medications they need. CRI's Min Rui has more.

Under the new rules, public hospitals are be barred from marking up prescription² drug prices and from imposing³ various levels of consultation⁴ fees on patients.

Instead, hospitals are now only able to charge a single medical service fee.

The medical service fee will replace the previous registration⁵, diagnosis⁶ and treatment fees.

The director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning is Fang⁷ Laiying.

"The medical affairs fee is a kind of compensation for the cost of medical activities at a hospital. The medical affairs service fees vary. For example, the starting fee is 20 yuan for a community hospital, with a patient paying 1 yuan and medical insurance paying the rest. For Class III hospitals, the starting fee is 50 yuan, with a patient to pay 10 yuan and their medical insurance to pay the rest."

The reforms are spread across all 36-hundred hospitals in Beijing.

The goal is to give Class III hospitals more opportunities to treat difficult and complicated cases.

For patients, the changes should mean shorter waiting times and greater access to medications.

Community hospitals and other medical institutions will be given the same access to medicine which would have otherwise only been available in higher-level hospitals.

A pilot program launched at five different hospitals in Beijing this past year saw drug prices drop by an average of 20 to 30-percent.

Fang Laiying says they believe the new policies will bring about the same results.

"The core of its essence is to make medical services more reasonable, at the same time reduce unreasonable⁸ and excessive medical care. And the five experimental hospitals have accumulated rich experience to prove that this road is feasible."

The latest reforms also cover reimbursments.

Under the changes, the cost of 435 different medical services can now be reimbursed⁹ from the medical insurance system, except those otherwise provided by the state.

The reform program in Beijing is part of a China-wide effort to end the practice of hospitals supplementing their incomes through sales of medicines, while guaranteeing that medical personnel get recognition for the value of their skills and services.

1 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

2 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

3 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

4 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

5 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

6 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

7 fang   

n.尖牙，犬牙

参考例句：

• Look how the bone sticks out of the flesh like a dog's fang.瞧瞧,这根骨头从肉里露出来，象一只犬牙似的。
• The green fairy's fang thrusting between his lips.绿妖精的尖牙从他的嘴唇里龇出来。

8 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

9 reimbursed   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the firm's business will be reimbursed. 由公司业务产生的开销都可以报销。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时，他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。 来自《简明英汉词典》