Shanghai

As China emerges into the modern world, so are many of its most traditional and basic social structures. With the success that China has seen in the international economy there are now more Chinese nationals living above the poverty line than ever before and this has bought many new ideas and ideals, often ones that directly conflict with traditional Chinese values, into the country. Shanghai is the epitome of this shift in Chinese culture, and as a city that is already world renowned for being a cosmopolitan metropolis it is one of the world's only portholes into life on the mainland. In terms of a cultural and social shift, nowhere is this more evident than in regards to the Chinese healthcare system. Historically the country's healthcare system was heavily controlled and regulated by the government, however with the opening up of the Chinese markets there has been a trend for privatization across all industry sectors, especially the healthcare industry.

The development and use of private medical facilities in China 's economic and business capital is a testament to the fact that there is a whole new level of wealth in the PRC. In China as a whole there is an expected growth in the healthcare industry of 6% - 8% a year until 2015, and currently Shanghai alone spends approximately US$ 1.93 billion each year on healthcare services. These are far higher numbers than have ever been associated with the Shanghai , or China , healthcare industry and the primary factor attributing to this high level of medical spending is the fact that Shanghai is at the center of the Chinese economy.

As China 's population continues to expand and as the average income rises the opportunities presented by the healthcare industry are huge. Learning from the mistakes that were made by the many government funded “public” healthcare facilities has allowed the newly developed private medical establishments throughout Shanghai to create a whole new level of treatment options and high quality service. The primary issue of the public healthcare system in Shanghai , and China as a whole was the fact that many of the medical facilities in operation were, and to an extent, still are, incredibly under funded. Coupled with high amounts of Government regulation and oversight, insufficient internal management, and overstaffing with less than qualified medical professionals all meant that the public healthcare system in china was a slow moving, unwieldy, behemoth.

With the development of the private medical system however, there have been many rapid improvements in the city's healthcare system, primarily due to the fact that there are now a plethora of treatment options for the Shanghai population to choose from. It is, unfortunately, not always possible for Shanghaineese residents to use these newly establish medical and healthcare facilities, primarily due to the fact that they are much more expensive that most of the other hospitals in the area. Under funding was a serious issue in the public healthcare sector, and private facilities do not have access to the government subsidies that their public counterparts receive. This has forced them to raise the average cost of treatment far out of reach of the average Chinese citizen purely so that they can continue to function and offer treatments.

It comes as no surprise then that many of the top private hospitals in Shanghai bear more resemblance to 5 star hotels than they do to their sister facilities in Europe or the USA . Despite this environment of comfort and luxury, private hospitals in Shanghai are struggling to compete with the services offered by the public sector. This is mainly due to the fact that public hospitals have a better reputation from offering treatment for longer periods of time, this has allowed them to capture the loyalty of millions of devoted patients. Then there is another major concern, money. The state health insurance scheme allows policyholders to claim for their treatments if they visit public hospitals, but generally not if they use private facilities. This has lead to a number of leading hospitals struggling to find the patients that they need in order to carry on business.

There are approximately 20 world class private hospitals in Shanghai , when compared to the 500 odd public medical facilities located throughout the Shanghai metropolitan area, this number seems woefully low. 96.1% of all the hospitals beds in the city belong to public hospitals and it is these same facilities that own the market share of both in-patient and out-patient treatments, because it is impractical for a majority of Chinese citizens to spend so much on healthcare. There is hope for the troubled private medical industry in Shanghai however, with the city experiencing its highest growth levels ever, more and more foreign nationals are visiting or choosing to permanently relocate there.

It are these newcomers that are helping to drive the Shanghai private healthcare industry, primarily because they are doubtful as to the quality of treatments offered in the public medical facilities. This leads them to hospitals and doctors that are more in line with what they are traditionally used to, as well as the high costs associated with the higher quality. The Shanghaineese healthcare system is in an interesting stage in its development where both the public, due to Chinese nationals, and private, due to expatriates, healthcare services are thriving; and because the foreign nationals are used to traditionally high medical costs, the private healthcare infrastructure seems comparatively normal. This is not to say that these treatments will be cheap, rather that when compared to the costs associated with care in a country like the USA , they are much lower.

There are many options in Shanghai right now when it comes to healthcare. It is important that when you seek treatment you consult medical professionals and evaluate all potential treatment avenues.

To learn more about the Shanghai medical system, or health insurance in Shanghai , please click here .