Shanghai is adding more private hospitals, including international facilities, to the government-run medical insurance system, a conscious effort to encourage the development of private health providers and a wider availability of high-end medical service.

Currently, local major international hospitals like Jiahui International Hospital, Parkway Shanghai Hospital, Shanghai Raffles Hospital and Shanghai United Family Hospital (Pudong) are all covered by the insurance system.

These hospitals, whose medical costs are always much higher than state-owned units, conduct a combined payment scheme, which means patients can cover the basic service charge with the medical insurance and the rest is paid by themselves or with their commercial insurance.

Shanghai United Family Hospital (Pudong), whose new payment system will open this month, is the first private hospital in the China (Shanghai) Free Trade Zone covered by the medical insurance system.

The coverage of medical insurance reflects the local government's efforts to widen the availability of high-end medical resources as well as encouraging high-end medical facilities to lower their threshold and offer a more inclusive service, according to Vivian Liu, United Family Healthcare Shanghai Area general manager.

"The new payment scheme is a new motivation for us as we want more patients to enjoy the high-end medical service and human-centered care in international hospitals. In terms of hospital management, the participation of government-run medical insurance can push our medical development," said Stan Qiu, executive general manager of Shanghai United Family Hospital (Pudong), which claims that the government-run medical insurance accounts for 5 to 30 percent of their medical bill, depending on different services.

Parkway Shanghai Hospital said the link with government-run medical insurance allows international hospitals to explore a more diversified service model and enable more patients to enjoy international-standard service at a more reasonable price.

It is also an indication of the Chinese government's policy of encouraging private health facilities and making such service available to more people, said the hospital, which has revamped its service and introduced new clinics to meet the demand of patients with government-run insurance.