Everybody told us to look elsewhere, even the embassy. “There is absolutely no possibility to do business with Premium Rate Numbers in China.” That may be true, but now we found proof for the mere existence of premium rate numbers in China. We see this as a first step and will investigate further.<--more-->

Here is what we found:

Shanghai. December 28. INTERFAX-CHINA:

The practice of top grade hospitals in Beijing charging patients money just to book an appointment with doctors has been criticized by a top health expert.

Hu Shanlian, deputy director with the Health Economic Institute under the Ministry of Health told Interfax that hospitals had gone too far and were violating their status as non-profit institutions.

He said, “This phenomenon is abnormal.”

Many top grade hospitals in the city, including Beijing Friendship Hospital and Beijing Tongren Hospital, provide various reservation cards or premium rate hotlines in conjunction with local companies to provide appointment services.

Reservation cards valued from RMB 56 ($7.16) to RMB 380 ($47.5) offer appointments with chief physicians of top grade hospitals in Beijing. The reservation hotline costs RMB 2 ($0.26) per minute, 20 times the cost of an ordinary phone call.

China Mobile, the largest mobile carrier in China, with about 300 million users, is also providing an appointment reservation service with its VIP members in Beijing.

However, despite the high costs of these services, an appointment with a chief physician is not guaranteed.

“Chief physicians’ time is limited, we cannot promise patients that they can reserve an appointment with the doctors that they want, even with the reservation card, they have to try their luck,” an official at the general affairs office of Beijing Friendship Hospital told Interfax.

Posted on January 4th, 2007 by lbraum
Filed under: China, all