Information involving state secrets or commercial secrets must not be disclosed
On the first working day of the new year, the National Health Commission issued a document that shook the industry.
On January 4, the National Health Commission issued the Administrative Measures for the Disclosure of Information in Medical and Health Institutions, requiring medical institutions across the country to proactively disclose various types of information in a timely manner from February 1, 2022.
Official website of the National Health Commission
The Health Bureau noted that in addition to basic information such as health science publicity, institutional departments, and the construction of a clean and honest government, the National Health Commission requires that medical institutions should disclose service information such as medical insurance, prices, and fees, as well as hospital recruitment information.
Prior to this, the former Ministry of Health promulgated the Administrative Measures for the Disclosure of Information of Medical and Health Service Units (Trial) on June 3, 2010, which only put forward some vague requirements for the disclosure of hospital information, such as the initiative to disclose information that "requires the public to be widely known or participated in".
But the healthcare industry has changed dramatically in recent years. A series of measures such as medical insurance policy adjustment, medical anti-corruption, and crackdown on insurance fraud will eventually be reflected in the hospital. It is clear that the previous information disclosure requirements no longer meet the needs of the new situation.
Some medical enterprise industry insiders said: The scope of public information listed in the document is very large.
The price of medical insurance drugs is open, and the interprovincial price difference is easier to smooth
Since January 1 this year, the newly negotiated drugs have begun to implement medical insurance prices in various places. Including the "700,000 sky-high drug" nocinnassoin sodium, many patients across the country have enjoyed medical insurance dividends at the beginning of the new year.
At the same time, the public also found that the medical insurance prices of many drugs were not announced. On December 31, 2021, Jilin issued a new price for drugs for the renewal of national medical insurance negotiations and new indications, and the prices of most of the Western drugs were marked as "confidential".
For pharmaceutical companies, the actual quotation of competitors can not be known until the actual prescription is actually issued in various places, which is also the norm in recent years of medical insurance price negotiations. In order to allow pharmaceutical companies to actively participate in medical insurance negotiations, the medical insurance department keeps the prices of the negotiated varieties strictly confidential until the official implementation of medical insurance reimbursement.
Although patients do not have the right to choose drugs in front of hospitals and doctors, the National Health Commission considers that at least patients should be informed of the actual price of drugs.
In 2015, the former National Health and Family Planning Commission issued a document requiring hospitals and other 9 types of medical institutions to disclose information, but this requirement does not include specific information such as drug prices. In practice, some hospitals will scroll on the electronic screen in the hospital to announce the price of drugs, but not every hospital operates in this way.
In fact, as early as 2009, the former Ministry of Health solicited opinions on the "Implementation Measures for the Disclosure of Information of Medical and Health Institutions", which only mentioned that the "prices of commonly used drugs and major medical consumables" should be disclosed. However, in the final document of the "Measures for the Administration of Information Disclosure of Medical and Health Service Units (Trial)", even this article was deleted and changed to "the price of national essential drugs equipped".
The price of medical insurance drugs has been opaque for a long time, resulting in a large price difference between the same variety in different provinces and cities, which is the main reason why the local medical insurance bureaus are now carrying out "dynamic price adjustment" and requiring anchoring the "national minimum price".
Only when all hospitals across the country implement price publicity can this contradiction be completely solved.
Equipment recruitment is transparent, and the spread may disappear from here
The Health Bureau noted that the documents of the Health Commission also require the mandatory disclosure of "bidding and procurement information".
Generally speaking, bidding and procurement information refers to the results of public bidding for drugs, consumables and medical devices, including the winning bid price. The hospital's most important bidding and procurement project is large-scale medical equipment, which is also the most secretive part of the hospital.
The price of large medical equipment has always been a secret, the same equipment, different dealers, bidders may give different prices, the price of the same equipment will even appear millions of dollars floating.
The price difference in these tenders has entered the pockets of corrupt officials and court leaders through various channels, breeding many problems. This is a spectacle in the field of medical devices that has not been completely resolved for many years.
On January 4, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a document thoroughly investigating medical corruption, and Li Yuanfeng, the former party secretary and president of the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, was informed that he had received bribes of more than 21.18 million yuan in medical equipment and drug procurement, and was eventually sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in prison.
An equipment supplier told the Health Bureau: "The company's surgical robots enter public hospitals for about seven or eight million yuan a piece, and it will be cheaper to sell to private hospitals. ”
Although most provinces have opened bids for large-scale equipment procurement, the final winning bid price information is scattered everywhere, and there is a lack of horizontal comparison. Others do not disclose the specific winning bid price on the grounds of "trade secrets".
In the "Administrative Measures" promulgated by the Health Commission this time, it is indeed mentioned that information involving state secrets, commercial secrets, personal information protection and other information shall not be disclosed. However, industry insiders believe that the winning price of medical equipment purchased by hospitals should not be a trade secret.
Xu Feng, a lawyer at Shanghai Jiucheng Law Firm, said: Article 45 of the Bidding Law stipulates that after the successful bidder is determined, the bidder shall issue a notice of winning the bid to the winning bidder, and at the same time notify all bidders who have not won the bid of the winning bid. Therefore, as long as the bidding information does not involve special industries, it should be publicized.
Transparency in the purchase price of large-scale equipment will greatly reduce the gray link in hospital procurement. The low cost of equipment procurement may help reduce the cost of patient examinations.
However, the "Administrative Measures" of the Health Commission stipulates that medical institutions can choose one or more ways to disclose them, including public bulletin boards, bulletin boards, electronic display screens, touch screens, information desks, service desks, websites, and telephones.
It may not be easy to easily query through the Internet.
Text | Zhang Ling
Operational | Twenty-thirteen
Two in-depth manuscripts per day to decode medicine and health
#Drug price information disclosure ##招采信息透明化 #