The State Council released a notification in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to ramp up Internet medical services as previous lockdown conditions have been unilaterally lifted across the country in the past few days. The key takeaways include:
Online Prescriptions and Drug Delivery
Medical institutions (including Internet hospitals and medical institutions providing Internet diagnosis and treatment services) can issue online prescriptions for patients with symptoms related to COVID-19 and people staying at home post-infection through the Internet diagnosis and treatment platform, and encourage qualified third parties to deliver drugs to patients’ homes.
Guidance for In-Person Visits
When a medical institution carries out Internet diagnosis and treatment services, if it finds that the patient’s condition has changed or there are other unsuitable online diagnosis and treatment services, it shall guide the patient to visit a physical medical institution in person.
24-Hour Online Consulting Services
Medical institutions are encouraged to provide 24-hour online consulting services, and actively carry out accurate appointments in different time periods to shorten the waiting time after patients arrive at the hospital.
Support for Grassroots Medical Institutions
Superior hospitals within medical alliances are encouraged to support grassroots medical institutions to identify, diagnose, and deal with high-risk people through remote consultation, remote diagnosis, remote training, and more.
Supervision and Quality Assurance
The local health departments at or above the county level should strengthen the supervision of Internet diagnosis and treatment services. Medical institutions should implement the medical quality and safety responsibilities of Internet diagnosis and treatment services, and ensure the integration of online and offline medical services and the homogeneity of medical quality and safety.-Fineline Info & Tech
