School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
BMC Med Ethics. 2022 May 30;23(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s12910-022-00793-w.
In China, informal payments in the medical profession, which workers in the public health care system receive from patients in the course of performing profession-related activities, are usually referred to as "red packets" (Hongbao ). The phenomenon of red packets is widespread and has become one of the most negative factors affecting the doctor-patient relationship in China. Our study aims to explore the situation concerning the phenomenon of red packets in China after the "Red Packet Ban".
A questionnaire was developed including general demographic characteristics, asking whether they had ever been offered red packets, whether they had ever accepted red packets, their reasons for accepting the first red packet and so on. We recruited a total of 413 doctors to complete this questionnaire and conducted in-depth telephone interviews with 18 doctors from the initial group.
Our data shows that 73 doctors claimed to have accepted red packets, accounting for 17.7% (73/413) of all respondents and 27.8% (73/263) of doctors who had been provided with red packets. 23.2% of red packets were offered after the operation and 67.1% of the doctors declared that the main reason for accepting the red packet was that they "refused the red packets more than once, but the patients/family members were sincere and it was difficult to refuse." The total amount of the red packets they received each month accounted for no more than 5% of their income.
(1) The acceptance of red packets does exist among young doctors in China, but shows a significant decrease compared to previous studies. (2) There has been a sharp rise in the proportion of gratitude red packets. (3) Patients should also be educated regarding their behaviour in providing red packets.
在中国，医务人员在行医过程中收受患者“红包”，通常被称为“红包”。“红包”现象普遍存在，已成为影响中国医患关系的最负面因素之一。本研究旨在探讨“红包禁令”后中国“红包”现象的情况。
设计了一份问卷，包括一般人口统计学特征，询问他们是否收到过“红包”，是否接受过“红包”，接受第一个“红包”的原因等。我们共招募了 413 名医生完成这份问卷，并对最初小组中的 18 名医生进行了深入的电话访谈。
我们的数据显示，73 名医生声称收到过“红包”，占所有受访者的 17.7%（73/413）和接受过“红包”的医生的 27.8%（73/263）。23.2%的“红包”是在手术后提供的，67.1%的医生表示接受“红包”的主要原因是“多次拒绝，但患者/家属很真诚，难以拒绝”。他们每月收到的“红包”总金额不超过收入的 5%。
（1）中国年轻医生收受“红包”的现象确实存在，但与以往研究相比，收受“红包”的现象明显减少。（2）感谢“红包”的比例急剧上升。（3）也应教育患者提供“红包”的行为。
