Recently, the state launched a draconian crackdown on medical corruption, which caused a huge shock in hospitals. The top management of the hospital held emergency meetings one after another, and the work group constantly emphasized discipline, and the implication was nothing more than to remind everyone not to touch the forbidden area of medical kickbacks.
The issue of medical rebates has long been a high-profile issue, and I think the reasons for this are complex and intertwined.
First, drug prices remain high, becoming a hotbed of "kickbacks" problems. The state's management of drug prices is divided into government pricing, government guidance price and market-regulated price, however, due to poor supervision, coupled with some pharmaceutical manufacturers or medical representatives giving gifts and bribes, even drugs priced by the government or guided by the government can be sold at a high price. More importantly, the government prices only 20% of the market share of drugs and the remaining 80% are set by companies themselves, and the government does not intervene in their prices, resulting in high prices. The government's pricing methods also fail to scientifically and reasonably consider costs and market fluctuations, and the price monitoring mechanism is not perfect.
Second, the drug market is chaotic and the compensation mechanism is not perfect. On the one hand, the government's investment and subsidies for hospitals are insufficient, and the skills and knowledge of medical staff are not fully recognized and paid. On the other hand, the fierce competition of domestic pharmaceutical enterprises, coupled with the state's pricing of pharmaceutical and medical products is inconsistent with the market, and the price is high, giving medical staff huge interest drive and operating space. This unbalanced mechanism has led to the continuous breeding and existence of the "kickback" problem.
In addition, due to historical reasons, the compensation mechanism of hospitals is still not perfect, and the state's subsidies for health services are far from meeting their development needs. Under such circumstances, in order to maintain their operations, some hospitals use the difference in drug sales to fill the funding gap, forming the phenomenon of "using medicine to support doctors", further increasing the burden of social medical expenses. At the same time, in order to survive, some hospitals with old equipment, lack of talents, lagging technology, low competitiveness and few patients have adopted unscrupulous methods, and there has been a violation of "substituting drugs for drugs", which greatly disrupts the order of the medical market.
Finally, the relevant personnel have weak legal awareness and serious bribery. Recent cases have shown that the illegal acceptance of kickbacks by hospitals is no longer just a matter of medical ethics, but also a violation of criminal law. The key to tackling the rebate problem is to standardize behavior and ensure that the "discounts" and "rebates" of drug and device distributors and manufacturers must be truthfully recorded in the financial accounts of the unit, otherwise they will face legal sanctions.
To solve the problem of rebates in the medical field, we can take a number of measures:
First, strengthen price supervision and standardize price behavior. Establish a scientific price management system, treat domestic and foreign enterprises equally, manage drug prices by category, strictly approve quotations, eliminate overestimation, reduce drug prices, and ensure that drug price reductions benefit the public.
Second, implement a separate management system for medicine and put an end to the phenomenon of "using medicine to support medicine". Open bidding for the procurement of commonly used drugs to cut off the source of high drug costs.
Finally, improve the legal awareness of relevant personnel, strengthen supervision and law enforcement, and ensure that pharmaceutical transactions are carried out legally and compliantly.
In summary, although the problem of rebates in the pharmaceutical field is complex, through various efforts such as reforming policies, regulating price behavior, and strengthening supervision, we are expected to eradicate this problem and create a better environment for the healthy development of the social medical system. Only in this way can the sustainable development of the pharmaceutical industry be realized and ensure that the people can enjoy more fair and reasonable medical services.