Guizhou connects countrywide regions for remote medical treatment

The Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Guizhou Province said on Feb 7 that by the end of 2017, Guizhou had made connections to all other provinces across the country to provide payment services for medical treatment received in a place different than the place of payment.

Patients from other provinces' 8,352 medical institutions in the country can directly pay for their medical bills and over 90 percent of tertiary designated hospitals can access the system.

A citizen from another province pays his medical fees in Guizhou. [Photo / gog.cn]

As early as last June, Guizhou had 11 municipal areas connected to the country's cross-province medical treatment platform through its provincial-level platform. People receiving medical treatment in a different place and patients eligible for transfer can swipe a card and pay the medical fees directly.

By the end of 2017, 177 hospitals in Guizhou were offering payment service for medical treatment received in a different place. So far, a total of 5,282 patients from other provinces have received medical service in Guizhou, with a total medical fee of 125.07 million yuan ($19.8 million).

In recent years, Guizhou has formulated a series of regulations to make social security cards usable for patients from other provinces in a timely manner to make sure they receive medical service.

Guizhou held 10 training sessions for more than 2,000 official personnel to provide better services. Around 200,000 promotional booklets about receiving medical service in a different province were handed out. It has also been widely publicized in mainstream media and new media platforms to generate support from more communities.

The achievement on medical treatment is a hugely beneficial measure for the general public. It can solve problems for patients from another province including long waiting times for reimbursement and extra journeys, and greatly improves people's sense of wellbeing.