Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Round Table.
Your local hospital can't handle the surgery,
so they call a top specialist from somewhere else,
and you pay a few thousand yuan extra.
For years, this was China's fiedao system, a lifeline for many,
but also somewhere in the gray zone legally.
Now, new rules are dragging it into the daylight,
forcing hospital-to-hospital payment,
and clarifying who pays when things go wrong.
So will transparency cost patients more,
and do the best surgeons still want to fly in?
Coming to you from our studios in Beijing, this is Round Table.
I'm Fei Fei and for today's program, I'm joined by Steve Hatherly and Yu Shun.
First, let's scrub in.
Imagine needing a complex surgery
but not having to travel hundreds of miles to a major city.
Instead, a top specialist comes to you, your local hospital.
In China, this practice is known as fiedao, literally flying knife,
and has helped bring top-care medical care closer to patients for years.