Beijing patients to pay less for drugs, more for doctors

Residents inquire about medicine prices at a community hospital in Donghuashi, Beijing, on Saturday. Medicine prices are going down for patients of public hospitals in Beijing, but the cost to see a doctor is going up.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Patients in Beijing will spend less on drugs but pay more to see doctors, with the total expense expected to be about the same after the city government on Saturday stopped public hospitals from profiting from medicine sales.

The reform, announced last month, replaced a registration fee and a treatment fee with a higher medical service charge. Meanwhile, it scrapped the previous markup on drugs, which could be as high as 15 percent, in the old pricing system.

Beginning Saturday morning, 2,605 Beijing hospitals switched to the new system, as released by the Beijing health authority.

One father, surnamed Zhang, said at Beijing Children's Hospital that he paid 10 yuan ($1.45) to see a doctor, five times the fee he used to pay out of his own pocket. "But it was not a big deal," he said. "We are quite happy that medication will be cheaper."

The landmark reform removed drug sales as a major source of income for public hospitals. Before the change, public hospitals in China mainly relied on three sources of income - treating patients, selling drugs and applying for government subsidies.

Official calculations show the overall medical costs for Beijing residents will remain flat, said Fang Laiying, head of the Beijing City Health and Family Planning Commission.

"Separating treatment and drug sales will stop over-prescription and help medical practitioners provide better treatment," said Fang.