A patient in a hospital in Ningxia was charged a seat fee of 5 yuan for infusion
The Health Insurance Bureau said it was in compliance
Netizens are not calm
In the past two days, the controversy caused by the charge for hospital seats has been too great, and the more netizens discuss it, the more intense it becomes, and we have to take a good look at it.
Recently, a netizen in Ningxia posted a Ningxia Children's Hospital fee voucher on the short video platform, and one of the charging items is called intravenous infusion (seat group), which charges two fees, 10 yuan and 5 yuan respectively. went to the hospital for infusion, and the seats in the hospital actually had to be charged, which caused great doubts from netizens.
After the incident was reported by the news media, it quickly fermented and caused a storm of public opinion.
On June 26, Ningxia Women and Children's Hospital of Peking University First Hospital (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Maternal and Child Health Hospital) issued a statement on "Seat Fees Charged for Infusion of Patients", which reads:
After verification, the hospital is currently implementing the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region medical service price manual class B price, the cost of intravenous infusion (seat group) charged in the charging voucher issued by netizens includes two days of intravenous infusion fee of 10 yuan (project code: 120400006a, 5 yuan per group) and two days of seat fee of 5 yuan (project code: 110900005b, the cost of infusion bed is 5 yuan each time, and only the seat is provided at half of the charge, that is, 2.5 yuan each time), Both charges are in line with the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region's medical service price book, and there is no problem of illegal fee collection. In the future, we will further strengthen communication with patients and their families, continue to improve the medical conditions of the hospital, and provide patients with a safer and more comfortable medical environment.
Here, we would like to thank all sectors of the community for their attention to this incident and welcome everyone to supervise the various charging items of the hospital.
After the above statement was issued, it was confirmed that there was indeed a seat fee, and the seat fee was still in accordance with the regulations? Now netizens couldn't sit still, and the controversy didn't end there.
Subsequently, the media contacted the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Medical Security Bureau, and a staff member told the media that the bureau does have relevant regulations, and the hospital can charge the infusion bed fee according to the guide price of 5 yuan once, and if the hospital only provides seats, the charging price will be halved, that is, 2.5 yuan once, so there is no problem with the hospital charging seat fees.
After the explanation of the hospital and the Medical Insurance Bureau, we roughly understood, and summarized it in an easy-to-understand sentence is: go to the hospital for infusion, if you lie on the bed for infusion, the use of the bed costs 5 yuan, do not lie on the bed, only sit on the chair for infusion, then the cost is halved, only 2.5 yuan.
Oh my God, it turns out that the infusion seat is really charged! There are even rules! So what does the relevant regulation say?
Log on to the official website of the Ningxia Medical Security Bureau, and it can be seen that in 2020, the unit issued the "Price of Medical Service Items in Ningxia Tertiary Hospitals (2020 Edition)", and there is a charging item in the document that is particularly eye-catching, and the name of the project is called "infusion bed", which reads: It means that the patient occupies the hospital bed alone for infusion, and when more than 2 people use 1 infusion bed at the same time, the fee can only be charged once, and the fee for only providing seats is halved. The guide price of the infusion bed project is 5 yuan per time.
The seat fee is true, and there are even documents stipulating it, and now netizens are not calm, and the accusations are endless.
A netizen in Henan said: "There are more and more bizarre charges, a few days ago the media just reported that asking for medical records and medical records from the hospital will charge a copy fee, and a fee will be charged for doing CT examination films. If I don't pay for the seat, will I have to bring a chair to the hospital in the future? Who made such a deceptive rule? Without research, without consulting the opinions of the masses, we quietly want to charge seat fees, are there still us in our eyes? ”
A cardiologist in Guangdong said: "Originally, I also wanted to say two good words for this hospital, I thought that the seat fee was the infusion service fee, that is, the nurse's technical operation fee, who knew that after the hospital situation statement was issued, it was really the seat fee on the surface, more precisely, the seat use fee, which is indeed a bit incredible, no wonder the patient complained, I a doctor felt that this fee was too far-fetched." Why do you collect this money? Is it for the daily maintenance of the seats, and the seats are disinfected every day? I really can't figure it out. ”
Several hospitals have similar charges
Seat charges have been the subject of controversy
In fact, it is not only the seat fee of Ningxia Children's Hospital that has caused controversy, but many hospitals have seen similar charges in the past two years, and it has caused frequent questions from netizens.
On July 10, 2022, according to the People's Daily health client, in response to the patient's complaint that "the chair in Hunan Anxiang People's Hospital was charged 10 yuan", the relevant person in charge of the hospital said that the paid seat is a smart escort bed, which can be unfolded into a bed after scanning the code for the patient's family to accompany him. When using the escort bed, scan the code to pay the fee, 10 yuan from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., 2 yuan from 12 noon to 14 p.m., and a deposit of 10 yuan. There is no extra charge for just sitting on the chair.
On January 16 this year, there was a "Reply to the Question of Chair Charges in the Inpatient Department of Dongfang Hospital" on the platform of "Ask Politics Jiangxi", and some netizens complained that the chairs in the inpatient department of Dongfang Hospital in Jizhou District were charged, and the registration fee and hospitalization fee were originally charged for hospitalization...... This is clearly unreasonable.
The Ji'an Municipal Health Commission replied on January 22 that in order to meet the rest needs of patients' families during the escort period, reduce hospital operating costs, and improve the level of fine management of the hospital, the former Shanghai East Hospital Ji'an Hospital (now the South Branch of the Hospital) adopted a market-oriented cooperation model in June 2020 and signed a 6-year "Hospital Shared Companion Chair Convenience Service Cooperation Agreement" with Ji'an Zhengxin Education Technology Co., Ltd., and the company put 250 shared companion chairs into various wards of the hospital. He is also responsible for the operation and management of the escort chair to meet the rest needs of the escort staff in the ward. The use of the shared escort chair is voluntarily chosen by the patient's escort according to their own situation, and the patient's escort can sit in the escort chair for free, or they can lie down and rest after unfolding the escort chair after scanning the code payment (the charging standard is 10 yuan/day), and the hospital inpatient bed fee does not include the use of the escort chair.
The seat charges in the above two cases, it is a smart escort chair, and a third-party platform participates in the operation, so it is scolded by the patient very miserably, and now the chair for infusion is also charged, which is only the basic health service provided by the hospital, no wonder it will cause a storm of public opinion.
In fact, some areas have already reached a conclusion on the issue of hospital seat charges.
In 2006, the Shanghai Municipal Commission for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests recommended that medical institutions abolish unreasonable fees such as "seat fees" and "reclining chair fees".
In March 2011, after the media exposed that hospitals in Jinan were charging seating fees, the Shandong Provincial Price Bureau issued a notice requiring non-profit medical institutions to charge for intravenous infusion in outpatient clinics, and not to charge any additional fees for observation, garbage disposal, heating (air conditioning), seats, and other expenses.
In 2018, the health departments of some areas in Anhui and Jiangsu Province said that they should take medical public welfare as the guide, severely crack down on unreasonable expenses including seat fees, garbage fees, and observation fees, and first seek opinions from the society when formulating project fees.
Is it "compliant" but reasonable?
Netizens reminded not to forget the word "clever name".
The issue of fees should be consulted by the public
From the perspective of the hospital, the infusion chair has costs and losses, but the question is, why should the patient bear the normal equipment loss?
Since this regulation comes from the higher management department of the hospital, the hospital can of course confidently say that the operating procedure of charging seat fees for infusion of patients is "no problem", but it does not mean that with the "regulations" it can be exempted from the normal questioning and complaints of the masses, and it should also be asked: whether the "regulations" themselves are reasonable?
For the charging items, it itself has the function of "amortizing costs", and the registration fees, medical expenses, examination fees, etc., which have been paid by the patient, will amortize some of the services that the patient should get in the hospital that do not need to be paid repeatedly, for example, the patient pays the daily hospitalization fee, the electricity and water bills in the ward can not be paid, and the hospital's heating fee is completely unreasonable; It is logical that the patient has paid the nursing fee, and the cost of injections and dressing changes cannot be paid again! Similarly, patients need to use chairs during infusion, and chairs are a basic diagnosis and treatment service that the hospital must provide, as long as the registration fee is paid, they should enjoy basic diagnosis and treatment services, which of course includes the right to use chairs during infusion.
Regarding this matter, Weibo self-media blogger "Cheng Cheng" thinks it is extremely unreasonable, she said: "There is an additional charge for using the seat during the infusion process, just like if you go to a restaurant to eat, and you have to wipe your mouth with a napkin after eating, at this time the boss said that you must pay for the napkin, otherwise you can't use it!" This move is particularly speechless, going to a restaurant to eat, from entering to wiping your mouth out is a complete process, the restaurant provides napkins are included in it, and the extra charge will only make people feel that the restaurant is undignified and narrow-minded, and the experience is very bad. In the same way, the hospital provides chairs that are included in the entire diagnosis and treatment process, and now they have to charge for it, which is also an infuriating behavior! Therefore, don't forget the word "clever name", and beware of some units setting up unreasonable fees. ”
According to Article 23 of the Price Law of the People's Republic of China, a hearing system shall be established to formulate government-guided prices and government-set prices related to the vital interests of the masses, such as public utility prices, public service prices, and commodity prices operated by natural monopolies, which shall be presided over by the government price department, solicit the opinions of consumers, business operators and relevant parties, and demonstrate their necessity and feasibility.
Obviously, now some people are not satisfied with the issue of hospital seat charges, and the next step, in response to this incident, should we consult the society, solicit the opinions of patients, hospitals and relevant parties, and demonstrate its reasonableness, necessity and feasibility?
Article transferred from: Metz Medicine