The reform of public hospitals has made real progress, according
to a Ministry of Health survey released on Sunday based on?12
leading comprehensive public hospitals in Beijing.
The percentage of hospital income that came from the sale of
medicines continued to fall, whilst workload rose 8-10 percent
annually.
"That suggests that their income structure has profoundly
changed due to reforms," said Wang Yu, deputy director of the
ministry's Medical Policy Department.
In the past, patients often complained that they spent far more
on buying medicines from hospitals than on medical services. The
government lowered prices of medicines and encouraged public
bidding in hospitals' medicine purchases to protect consumers and
curb corruption.
The survey also said that the average prescription price went
down by 40 percent.
This can be attributed to a more standardized and professional
pharmaceutical service and customized pharmaceutical consulting
service, Wang said.
However, consumer satisfaction still dropped this year.
Half of hospital employees surveyed believed this came from a
lack of communication between hospitals and patients, while a third
believed it was due to receiving bad service.
"The Achilles' heel of our public hospitals is service, not
technology," Wang said.
He said the ministry would launch a nationwide survey of public
hospitals in 2005 to help raise their management and service
performance levels.
(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2005)
