By the end of May this year, the number of medical institutions in Southwest China's Chongqing connected to the national platform for direct settlements of trans-provincial medical fees had increased to 849, according to a report by news agency Xinhua.

The June 9 report said that 104 institutions were added since the start of the year.

Local officials said that at the end of last year, there were 230 public hospitals in Chongqing, including 36 top grade-three, class-A hospitals.

In 2017, all public hospitals in the city cancelled drug price markups and public hospital compensations changed from three channels of service charges, drug additions and government subsidies to two channels of service charge and government subsidies.

Officials said that on this basis, in 2019 some 1,365 public medical institutions in the city completely abolished  addition fees for medical consumables.

They said that in Chongqing, improper increases of medical expenses decreased from 28 percent of the total in 2012 to about 10 percent in 2019.

In addition, the proportion of residents' spending on personal health in total health expenditure decreased from 35 percent in 2012 to 28 percent in 2018.

Meanwhile, the income of medical staff has steadily increased and the proportion of public hospital staff expenditure in business expenditure increased from 31.47 percent in 2012 to 39.08 percent in 2019.

At the end of last year Chongqing joined forces -- with Yunnan province, Guizhou province, Sichuan province and Tibet autonomous region -- to pilot the implementation of direct settlements of outpatient expenses at 116 medical institutions in these provincial-level regions in Southwest China.

Officials said that as of May this year, 1,237 medical institutions in these provincial regions had enabled direct settlements in trans provincial-level regions for outpatient fees.