Hospitals forced to act against scalpers
Print Edition
IN January this year, a video clip shot at a Beijing hospital went viral in China.
In the video, a woman raged about the fact that appointments with specialists had been booked by scalpers, who were selling them for 4,500 yuan (US$688) — 15 times higher than the original fee. In Chinese hospitals, patients often pay a fee to schedule medical appointments and are issued a ticket number after booking.
“Our appointments can be booked six months in advance,” said Zou Xiaobing, a specialist at a hospital in south China’s Guangzhou Province. “Appointments for six months are usually all booked within minutes,” said Zou. “Some patients pay scalpers more than 5,000 yuan for an appointment with me, which is way too much,” Zou added.
Although ticket scalping is illegal in China, scalpers are a common sight at the country’s theaters, railway stations and hospitals. Local governments and institutions have tried to put pressure on the scalpers. The National Railway Administration has been improving its verification system for online purchases to prevent scalpers from buying them. This year, the administration introduced mobile phone verification for purchases.
As of February 18, a total of 18,193 fake tickets had been seized and 249 scalpers had been caught nationwide.
After the video went viral, hospitals in Beijing have taken measures, including a real-name system for bookings to prevent scalpers from landing appointments. Beijing Tongren Hospital and others have limited the number of appointments per day to ensure patients are treated as soon as possible.
Huang Fei, director of the office of medical reform in Guangdong Province, said scalpers at hospitals are difficult to eliminate.
“Our medical services at the primary level fail to keep scalpers at bay,” he said, referring to the fact that some patients avoid local hospitals, so more reputable hospitals are always packed with patients and scalpers. “If our medical system were good enough to keep all patients at nearby hospitals, (the scalpers) would disappear,” he added.
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