Recently, in order to further standardize the behavior of medical institution staff, improve the standardization of medical services, and build a harmonious doctor-patient relationship, the Chongqing Municipal Health Commission issued the Notice on Printing <重庆市医疗机构工作人员行为规范>and Distributing (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") (Chongqing Municipal Health Commission, 2024).
Source: Chongqing Municipal Health Commission
The "Notice" pointed out that the regulations are formulated in accordance with the "Basic Medical Care and Health Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China", "Physician Law of the People's Republic of China", "Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China", "Regulations on Nurses", "Nine Guidelines for the Honest Practice of Medical Institution Staff", "Code of Conduct for Medical Institution Practitioners" and other laws, regulations and rules and regulations, which are applicable to all staff in all types of medical institutions at all levels in Chongqing, including but not limited to health professional and technical personnel, management personnel, Support personnel and other social practitioners who provide services in medical institutions and accept the management of medical institutions.
The Code of Conduct for Staff of Medical Institutions in Chongqing has a total of 10 chapters and 82 articles, including 3 general provisions, 13 basic codes of conduct for medical institution staff, 8 codes of conduct for managers, 10 codes of conduct for physicians, 7 codes of conduct for nurses, 8 codes of conduct for pharmacy technicians, 9 codes of conduct for medical technicians, 15 codes of conduct for other behaviors, 6 articles on implementation supervision, and 3 articles on supplementary provisions.
Source: Chongqing Municipal Health Commission
Among them, the following entries need to be paid special attention to:
1. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from collecting, using, processing, transmitting, disclosing, or buying or selling personal information provided by patients in medical institutions or medical information generated in violation of regulations.
2. Medical personnel shall not discriminate against patients on the basis of race, religion, region, wealth, status, disability, disease, etc.
3. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from introducing or guiding patients to designated medical establishments through online or offline channels for the purpose of seeking personal gain.
4. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from soliciting or accepting gifts, cash gifts, consumption cards, securities, equity, other financial products and other property from patients and their relatives and friends.
5. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from participating in banquets or arrangements for travel, fitness, entertainment, and other activities arranged, organized, or paid for by patients and their relatives and friends.
6. Medical personnel must not take advantage of their positions to solicit or illegally accept property or seek other improper benefits.
7. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from accepting kickbacks in any name or form from enterprises or distributors of medical products such as drugs, medical equipment, medical devices, medical and sanitary materials, etc.
8. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from participating in banquets or arrangements for travel, fitness, entertainment, and other activities arranged, organized, or paid for by enterprises or distributors of medical products such as medicines, medical equipment, medical equipment, and medical and sanitary materials.
9. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from using medical resources such as number sources, bed sources, and urgently needed drugs and consumables, or medical arrangements such as examinations and surgeries, to accept benefits or harm public or private interests.
10. Medical personnel are strictly prohibited from inducing or assisting others to impersonate or falsely seek medical treatment or purchase medicines, provide false supporting materials, collude with others to issue false expense receipts, and other means to defraud or arbitrage medical security funds.
11. Physicians who sign relevant medical certificates must personally examine and investigate, and fill in medical records and other medical documents in accordance with regulations, and must not conceal, forge, tamper with, steal, snatch, or alter or destroy medical records and other medical documents and related materials without authorization, and must not issue false medical certificates or medical certificates that are not related to their scope of practice or inconsistent with the type of practice.
12. Physicians must not carry out unnecessary examinations and treatments on patients, increasing unnecessary risks and cost burdens on patients.
13. Physicians are strictly prohibited from taking advantage of their practice to issue bills and commissions, it is strictly forbidden to conduct prescriptions for commercial purposes, it is strictly prohibited to arrange for patients to purchase medical consumables and other products at other designated locations in violation of regulations, it is strictly prohibited to sell goods or services to patients and seek personal gain from them, and it is strictly forbidden to accept fees related to the prescription and dispensing of drugs by Internet companies.
14. Pharmacists are not allowed to sell or use drugs purchased through abnormal channels without permission, and it is strictly forbidden to conduct prescriptions for commercial purposes.
15. If medical technicians need to explain to patients matters related to the clinical use of medical devices, they shall truthfully inform them, and shall not conceal or falsely publicize them to mislead patients.
16. Security guards, cleaners, nurses, and other service personnel shall not discard, dump, stack, use, or buy or sell medical waste at will, and shall not use their positions to promote pharmaceutical products or services and seek personal gains.
The Chongqing Municipal Health Commission clearly emphasized that if the staff of a medical institution violates this norm, the competent department or the unit to which it belongs shall, in accordance with the above-mentioned relevant laws, regulations and management provisions, depending on the severity of the circumstances, give criticism and education, circular, cancel the qualification for the year's evaluation, fine, suspend the right to prescribe or practice activities, revoke the practice certificate, or be hired, suspended, dismissed, or dismissed.
Among them, those who need to be investigated for party discipline and government discipline responsibility shall be handled by the relevant discipline inspection departments and personnel departments in accordance with the procedures for the investigation and handling of party discipline and government discipline cases; those who need to be given administrative punishments shall be punished accordingly by the relevant departments according to law; and those suspected of committing crimes shall be transferred to the judicial organs for handling according to law.
In 2021, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission published a typical case of doctors accepting bribes:
Wang, male, member of the Communist Party of China, director of the cardiology department of a public hospital in a city. In May 2019, Wang accepted the request of Zhou, the medical representative of Pharmaceutical Company A, to help Pharmaceutical Company A successfully win the bid in the process of purchasing medical devices in the cardiology department of the hospital. In June of the same year, Wang received 50,000 yuan from Zhou. In August 2019, Wang was asked by Zhang, the medical representative of Pharmaceutical Company B, to prescribe only or more drugs of Pharmaceutical Company B when diagnosing and treating patients with heart diseases, provided that there were multiple alternatives of the same kind of drugs. In September of the same year, Wang accepted 50,000 yuan from Zhang (Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and State Supervision Commission website, 2021).
In this case, Wang took advantage of his position to illegally accept property, seek improper benefits, and accept kickbacks from pharmaceutical and medical device production and trading enterprises, harming the public and private interests.
With the comprehensive promotion of medical anti-corruption, medical personnel at all levels need to actively study the medical code of conduct, strictly implement relevant laws and regulations, learn the lessons of criminal cases, avoid violations, and ruin their bright future.
Source: Healthy Henan