China Issues Guidelines to Promote Rural Medical and Healthcare System (Part 1)

 A village doctor auscultated the granddaughter of a resident in the clinic of Yangfang Village, Fengcheng City, Jiangxi Province. [Xinhua]

Chinese authorities have issued a set of guidelines to promote the sound development of the medical and health system in the country's rural areas. The guidelines, released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, noted that medical work and healthcare should be prioritized in the country's rural revitalization drive.

1. Objectives.

By 2025, significant progress has been made in the reform and development of the rural medical and health system. A more balanced layout of medical and healthcare institutions should be formed with improved infrastructure, and intelligent and digital applications should be gradually popularized, the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine should be further developed, the capacity for disease prevention and treatment should be obviously enhanced, and the ability to prevent and treat major epidemics and public health emergencies in rural areas should be continuously improved. Rural medical and healthcare personnel should be built up, the quality and structure of personnel should be optimized, the income of medical and healthcare personnel should be increased, and social security issues such as pensions should be effectively resolved. The operation mechanism of the rural medical and healthcare system should be further improved, the investment mechanism should be established, and a tiered treatment system featuring primary treatment at the community level, flexible inter-hospital patient transfer, differentiated treatment for acute and chronic illnesses, and coordination across different levels should be built.

2. Strengthen the Coordination of Health Resources with an Optimized Layout.

2.1 Optimize the layout of rural medical and healthcare institutions.

Rationally allocate medical and healthcare resources at village and township level according to the changes in rural shape and population migration flow. Focus on supporting the construction of some central township health centers with high-quality and demonstration functions. Encourage adjacent administrative villages in areas with a small service radius and convenient transportation to jointly build clinics. Strengthen the construction of village clinics in remote areas, ethnic areas, and special areas such as mountainous areas (plateaus), islands, pastoral areas, reservoir areas, and other special areas. And promote the integrated management of rural medical and healthcare institutions.

2.2 Strengthen and expand the medical and health system service functions of counties.

Improve the rural medical and healthcare service system with county-level hospitals as the leader, township health centers as the hub, and village clinics as the basis, and promote the integration of medical and healthcare services within the county. Strengthen the ability of upward inter-hospital patient transfer of county-level hospitals. Support the construction of county-level hospital facilities and service capabilities, enhance the capabilities of township health centers for disease prevention, treatment and health management, and improve the healthcare provision of village clinics. Adopt methods such as participating in medical liability insurance for medical and healthcare institutions as a whole to improve the medical risk-sharing mechanism of village clinics. Encourage social forces to run clinics, outpatient departments, private hospitals, etc. to provide diversified medical services for residents, and participate in undertaking government purchases of public health services.

2.3 Reinforce the capacity of disease prevention and control in the rural medical and healthcare system.

Innovate the medical mechanism of prevention and treatment as well as prevention and integration, and improve the rural public health system. Develop a sound public health responsibility list of rural medical and healthcare institutions. Strengthen the construction of public health-related departments in county-level hospitals and township health centers. Consolidate the basic public health service capacity of village clinics with the improvement of early risk prevention. Promote the standardization of county-level centers for disease control and prevention. Strengthen the coordination between medical institutions and centers for disease control and prevention, and gradually establish a supervisor system of disease control and prevention.

2.4 Accelerate the application of smart and digitalized technologies of medical and healthcare services at the county level.

Progress should be made in the development of a regional health information system in terms of population information, electronic medical records and health records, and public health information sharing, and establish an integrated county-level medical and healthcare information platform by 2025. Vigorously develop Internet Plus Healthcare models and establish a rural remote medical care service system for rural areas. Expand the coverage of digitization and intelligence of family doctor contracts and rural medical and healthcare service.

Source: <http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2023-02/23/content_5742938.htm>

             <http://english.www.gov.cn/policies/latestreleases/202302/24/content_WS63f7ef2cc6d0a757729e7256.html>

Edited and Translated by Guo Xinxin