Sky-high ambulance fees stun patient in Shenyang  

沈阳120急救车9公里收1670元 急救站称收费合理

昨日上午，有人在微博上贴出了一张沈阳急救中心的收费单。微博中称，11月26日晚，家人拨打120急救电话，从沈阳市和平区胜利街新加坡城到苏家屯血栓医院，仅9公里路程，竟有18项收费，费用高达1670元。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- The family of a patient in Shenyang, Liaoning province, paid 1,670 yuan ($274) for emergency medical services provided in the ambulance on the way to a hospital only nine kilometer away from their home.

The patient was a 69-year-old woman who suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage last Tuesday. Family members made an emergency call about 11:00 pm. An ambulance with a doctor, a nurse and two stretcher-bearers on board arrived 15 minutes after the call.

The doctor and nurse carried out emergency medical services such as an electrocardiogram for the patient during the trip to Sujiatun Thrombosis Hospital, nine kilometer from the patient's home in the city's Heping district.

After arriving at the hospital, family members received a bill of 1,670 yuan for medical services provided in the ambulance.

The bill included charges for an electrocardiogram and taking the patient's blood pressure, the doctor's home visit, and fees related to care provided by the nurse.

According to the medical bill, the charge for an electrocardiogram was 594 yuan.

"The charge is unreasonable," said a family member. "Normally, it cost less than 100 yuan for a patient to get an electrocardiogram at hospitals."

Facing the discontent of the patient's family, an official at the emergency center of Shenyang responded that there was nothing inappropriate about the medical bill.

"The charges for medical services provided in an ambulance is in accordance with the regulation of the local price control administration in Shenyang," said Chen Tieqiang, a director of the emergency center of Shenyang.

Besides the fees related to medical services, the bill also covered labor costs for the stretcher-bearers, and ambulance waiting fees, Chen added.