Ten of the 51 psychiatric hospitals, in the cities of Xiangyang and Yichang in Hubei Province in central China, under investigation for mental health insurance fraud, were found to have engaged in fraudulent medical practices.
The investigation team included provincial government officials and was guided by the country’s top health and healthcare security regulators, reported China Daily.
A comprehensive review of nearly 9,200 hospitalised or recently discharged patients, however, did not find any instances of admitting individuals without mental disorders. However, issues such as continued hospitalisation after clinical recovery and falsified bed occupancy were identified.
The psychiatric institutions involved in the scam, were found to have defrauded a total of about CNY3.49m ($505,000) from the national medical insurance fund over the past two years. Their methods included fabricating medical service items, inflating medical service costs and forging medical documents.
Following the publication of the report, 15 hospital executives or employees and nine government officials have been detained. In addition, administrative penalties have been imposed on four hospital nurses who were found to have slapped, kicked or struck patients on the head or neck.