A new round of supervision for medical institutions will be conducted in the next seven months, aiming to reduce staff corruption in hospitals that may receive kickbacks from medicine deals, the provincial health department said.

The effort to rectify orders in medical institutions and clean up unreasonable charges began in Hebei on April 7 and will continue until the end of September, according to a plan released by the Health Bureau of Hebei.

Public hospitals above the county level and their supervisory bodies should make public their hotline and email addresses for public complaints and supervision during this period.

Any hospital in violation will receive severe punishment including large fines. Supervision departments will be held responsible.

The round of supervision hopes to crack down on public hospitals that purchase medicine from other sources instead of following a transparent bidding process. The medicine is not reported to the supervising body. Hospitals may also release false drug information or rent their clinic departments to other people. The hospitals don't follow rules on charging and may overcharge patients.

In addition, staff members from public hospitals may receive kickbacks as money or other bribes from drug providers, or they may ask for extra money directly from patients.