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Ways to improve hospital service

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-15 07:53

Recently, the Ministry of Health launched a pilot project to reform the salaries of hospital staff. We hope this round of medical reform will make the government reinterpret its relationship with hospitals, says an article in Changjiang Times. Excerpt:

The latest round of the Ministry of Health's reform is aimed at making medical services more efficient. Many private hospitals have already taken steps to do so. Readjusting the staff's salaries, promoting medical services, renewing facilities and redistributing medical resources, are part of this round of medical reform.

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For quite some time, government departments have been exercising control over public medical institutions. The monopoly enjoyed by these facilities has prevented them from worrying about their share of problems.

In the new round of reform, the government should withdraw itself from being the hospitals' biggest customer as well as their supervisor. Medical institutions should operate independently of the governmental, for only when their management and operations are separated can they improve their service quality.

And once the management of hospitals is separated from governmental regulations, further reforms will follow naturally.

We hope the government will solve all the problems it set out to deal with in the course of this medical reform.

And since the non-profit nature of medical services is embodied in hospitals' supervision, the government should clearly define its relations with medical institutions, ensure fair competition and review the services and charges.

(China Daily 10/15/2009 page9)