Hospital scalpers occupy ATMs for making appointments in hospitals. (Photo/Beijing Morning Post)
(ECNS) -- Beijing's real-name registration system for patients to make hospital appointments has failed to stop rampant ticket scalping as they set their sights on the city's ATMs, Beijing Morning Post reports.
ATMs in banks are equipped with a system for making appointments in hospitals, especially those near better known and high demand medical facilities such as Peking Union Medical College Hospital, the paper said.
Scalpers arrive at 6 or 7 a.m. and use the ATMs to make appointments in their own name or in the name of their regular clients. When a new client arrives, the scalper cancels a previous appointment and immediately changes the name into the new client's.
According to the report, scalpers ask for fees ranging from 300 yuan ($46) to 1,500 yuan for an appointment with an expert, which could increase to as much as 2,000 or 3,000 yuan in the case of a highly popular doctor.
Nurses at Peking Union Medical College Hospital suggest patients to use their phones, the Internet or bank cards to make appointments in order to avoid potential losses because scalpers could actually fail to get an appointment ticket or produce a fake one.
China has launched a campaign to address the practice of hospital appointment scalping starting from May. Proven scalpers will be added to a database and their ignominy linked to social credit.
