By Fineline Cube The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) has released a report outlining the outcomes of ‘flying inspections’ related to the use of Basic Medical Insurance (BMI) funds in hospitals throughout 2022. The initiative saw the establishment of 24 flying inspection teams across 23 provinces, with key visits to prominent institutions such as Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, and Huazhong University of Science & Technology.
Scope and Findings of Flying Inspections
A total of 48 designated medical institutions were subjected to flying inspections, comprising 40 Class 3 public hospitals, 3 Class 3 private hospitals, and 5 private medical institutions below Class 2. The inspections identified four main issues: ① fraudulent charging practices; ② swapping of drugs and medical services; ③ misappropriation of medical insurance funds; and ④ excessive diagnosis and treatment against standards. Additional problems included encouraging repeat hospitalizations, discrepancies in drug and medical consumable management, failure to implement national procurement policies, and fictitious medical service projects.
Recovery of Funds and Penalties Imposed
The NHSA’s flying inspections have resulted in the recovery of RMB 720 million in BMI funds and the imposition of administrative fines totaling RMB 120 million on 16 designated medical institutions. An additional penalty of RMB 25.251 million was imposed on 7 designated medical institutions. Provincial-level flying inspections conducted across 31 provinces covered 2,756 designated medical institutions, leading to the recovery of RMB 1.98 billion in medical insurance funds, imposition of RMB 160 million in administrative fines, and RMB 150 million in liquidated damages.-Fineline Info & Tech