China sees drop in cross-regional medical service demand: official

BEIJING -- China has seen a significant drop in cross-regional medical service demand as the country revamps its public hospital system to achieve high-quality development, according to an official from the National Health Commission (NHC).

NHC official Zhu Hongbiao told a press conference on Tuesday that the country has been pushing forward a new system for the high-quality development of public hospitals, with the establishment of national medical centers of 13 categories and over 230 regional medical centers.

Zhu said these projects have greatly reduced the number of people seeking medical treatment across provinces or regions. He noted that efforts have been made to provide the public with integrated and continuous medical and health services, including disease prevention and treatment, rehabilitation, and health promotion.

The country has provided support for the development of 961 key clinical specialties at the national level and another 3,800 at the provincial level.

Initiatives have been launched to improve the quality of medical services and promote patient-friendly measures such as appointment service, multi-disciplinary diagnosis and treatment, day surgery, and mutual recognition of examination and test results between medical institutions, Zhu said.