New rules for China's "flying" doctors

China’s "Fei Dao" (flying knife) system, which allows top specialists to travel from major hospitals to perform surgeries at local facilities, is undergoing a significant regulatory transformation to move from an informal, gray-market practice to a transparent, standardized model. Historically, this system relied on direct, often opaque payments between patients and surgeons, creating legal and financial ambiguities regarding liability and taxation. New nationwide rules now mandate that all consultations and surgical fees be processed through official hospital-to-hospital channels, ensuring legal accountability and proper tax reporting. While this shift aims to improve fairness and oversight, it faces implementation challenges, including the need to set competitive compensation structures that incentivize specialists to continue traveling. By formalizing these arrangements, the policy seeks to bridge the gap in medical resource distribution, enabling patients in underserved areas to access high-quality care without the logistical burden of traveling to major cities.