The prefecture-level city of Zibo – situated in East China's Shandong province – recently opened a traditional Chinese medicine daytime treatment center, to give full play to the unique therapeutic advantages of TCM.
The center is based in the Zibo Hospital of Integrative Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine – one of the first such hospitals piloted in Zibo.
The center allows patients who are eligible for hospitalization but do not need to be in hospital during non-treatment periods, to leave after a day's treatment in line with their own specific needs and conditions.
The cost will be charged according to Zibo's current medical insurance policy, except the bed and nursing fee which will be charged at 30 percent of the current standard.
As an efficient and convenient medical service model, the treatment center is expected to simplify the admission and discharge process, but also save on hospitalization costs for patients.
Currently, 23 conditions are covered by the pilot center's medical insurance. These include treatment for back pain, stroke and constipation and various TCM specialties like acupuncture, massage and bloodletting – showing the advantages of TCM, which is said to be simple, convenient, experimental and inexpensive.
Acupuncture is applied at the TCM daytime treatment center in Zibo. [Photo/zbnews.net]
A patient is massaged for pain relief. [Photo/zbnews.net]
