New medical policies enacted this year to reduce barriers to market entry and promote private-owned medical institutions have failed to boost the development of private hospitals, the Guangming Daily reports.
In the first half of 2018, about 20 Chinese provinces released new medical policies, which included reduced access thresholds, improved efficiency of examinations and approvals, as well as financing, taxation and investment support. Further, a notice on further reform and improvement of medical institutions and doctor examinations, issued by the National Health Commission, streamlined the certification process by merging the structural establishment of medical treatment with the registration of medical institutions.
While the policies are a signal China is now more open to the prospect of private hospitals, they have received little support because many private institutions still lack scale and talents. This, in turn, offers little in the form of career advancement and salary incentives to drawn more medical talent.
There are other barriers too. Privately-owned medical institutions do not generally enjoy preferential treatment in terms of administrative fees and charges for water and electricity in the way public hospitals do, making it harder to compete.
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