Reform of medicine and healthcare system stressed

China will continue to deepen the reform of medicine and healthcare system in 2021, according to a circular issued by the General Office of the State Council on June 17.

The document called for more efforts to further promote the experience of medical reform in Sanming city of East China's Fujian province and accelerate the coordinated reform of medical services, health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry.

Stressing solid actions to promote the centralized drug procurement system and the salary system reform, the circular urged a sound pricing system to guarantee deserved prices for medical services at local hospitals. Salary levels at public hospitals should be adjustable within a reasonable range, it added.

Payment methods for medical insurance will be reformed, and public hospitals should seek high-quality development, it also said.

To expand provision of high-quality healthcare resources and promote their balanced distribution, a national medicine center and the second batch of regional medical centers in a trial program should be set up, and clinical service capability will be improved in the next five years.

Meanwhile, construction of medical consortiums and a multi-tiered diagnosis and treatment system will gain speed, according to the circular.

It also called for better medical insurance and aid for major diseases, establishment of outpatient mutual aid medical insurance for employees, and enhanced settlement management of trans-provincial medical expenses.

Traditional Chinese medicine industry will be revitalized, it said, with a batch of national TCM centers coming underway to boost innovation of the legacy.

While beefing up public health system, prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic must be strengthened, the circular said, calling to deepen reform in disease control system, further implement the Healthy China initiative, and combine prevention with treatment.

Information and data must be shared among healthcare institutions across the country without barriers, and work should be done to cultivate medical talent and guarantee medicine supplies, said the circular.