China to crack down on hospital appointment touts
24-Feb-16, Xinhua News
The top medical authority aims to root out the practice of reselling hospital outpatient appointments, a health official announced.
%20Xinhua%20News.jpg "China to crack down on hospital appointment touts (c) Xinhua News")
Image: Xinhua News
Jiao Yahui, an official with the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), said the campaign will be rolled out across Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
A system is needed that would see patients go to different hospitals according to their illness, rather than crowding big hospitals regardless of their actual needs.
Hospital appointment scalping entered the media spotlight following a video posted online that showed a woman in a furious fit of rage with a scalper after she failed to get an appointment.
The woman said she had been waiting for an outpatient appointment for two days, and still could not get a ticket. A scalper offered her an appointment for 4,500 yuan (684 U.S. dollars), a huge markup on its 300 yuan face value.