A group of ministries led by the National Health Commission (NHC), including the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and National Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention, have jointly released a work plan for “Compact Urban Medical Group Construction Pilots.” This initiative aims to reform the medical service supply side and implement a tiered diagnosis and treatment system.
Plan Details and Timeline
Under the plan, provinces across the country must select 2-3 cities where medical resources will be focused into 2-3 districts to coordinate compact urban medical groups. The first half of 2023 will see the grid layout in pilot cities completed. By the end of 2023, systemic and integrated matching policies are expected to be finalized, and by 2025, the pilot schemes should provide models for nationwide promotion.
Grid Planning and Medical Group Structure
The document requires that the grid be scientifically planned based on factors such as geographical relationship, population distribution, disease spectrum, and the current status of medical resources. In principle, each city should plan for at least 2 grids, and each grid should build a compact urban medical group. The group is composed of a leading hospital and member units internally, and a number of cooperative units jointly providing medical services externally. The leading hospital should be a prefecture-level/district-level Class 3 comprehensive hospital, and member units should include at least a Class 2 comprehensive hospital or a medical institution capable of providing continuous medical services.
Resource Integration and Service Delivery
The document aims to promote the integration of medical treatments, operations, and information management, and to facilitate the downstream and sharing of resources. In principle, the leading hospital should allocate at least 1/3 of the outpatient number sources and 1/4 of the inpatient beds to the contracted service team of family doctors or grassroots medical and health institutions. Contracted residents referred to the grassroots level should be given priority for treatment, examination, and hospitalization.
Emphasis on Mutual Recognition and Resource Sharing
The plan also emphasizes the promotion of mutual recognition of inspection and examination results, the unification of drug procurement lists, and supply security mechanisms within the compact urban medical group. Qualified doctors from Class 2 and 3 hospitals will be guided to work at the grassroots level, and grassroots general practitioners will be mobilized to establish family doctor contract service teams. The coordination between medicine and prevention will be enhanced, as will the integration of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine.-Fineline Info & Tech
