Source: Gmw.cn
As a pioneer in China’s reform and opening-up, Shanghai Pudong New Area has scientifically developed the local health sector with a global view, and worked to upgrade medical services comprehensively, built “healthy Pudong” and created a medical service chain that covers all parts of Pudong in recent years, in accordance with the 13th Five-Year Plan of Pudong New Area for Health and Family Planning Reform and Development.
Pudong Takes the Lead at Home in Deepening Medical Reform
Pudong takes the lead at home in deepening medical reform, which is partly attributed to the construction of think tanks. Shanghai presently has only two health research institutes. One of them is at the municipal level, and the other is Pudong New Area Health Research Institute. With the health research institute, Pudong is able to gather talents from Shanghai, China and even the whole world, and develop the local health sector with a global vision from a range of aspects including medical services, market and information. That helps it take the lead both locally and nationally in medical reform and provides replicable and scalable experience for medical reform in Shanghai and even the whole country. The general practitioner family responsibility system was first launched in Pudong New Area before it spread to other parts of the country. Pudong New Area was also the first to see the medical treatment combination for children. At first, the government of Pudong New Area cooperated with a medical center for children in Shanghai; at present, five community health centers in Pudong New Area provide pediatric services.
Today, Pudong New Area is planning a new type of medical treatment combination, moving from cooperation on referral and information connectivity to medical insurance settlement and personnel connectivity. After the policy research becomes mature, residents can enjoy medical services provided by medical experts in the neighborhood. Besides, community health stations also introduce an innovative model, and British family doctor clinics, i.e. general practitioner clinics, will appear in Pudong New Area.
Pudong Beefs up Medical Input and Construction of Medical Infrastructures
Besides the RMB8.1 billion input over the past two decades, Pudong New Area has increased fiscal input in the health sector in recent years, which totaled RMB1.49 billion, RMB1.84 billion, RMB1.98 billion and RMB2.19 billion from 2011 to 2014, up 31.16%, 23.62%, 7.49% and 10.8% year-on-year respectively. That provides powerful support for the smooth progress of various aspects of the health sector. The input in medical infrastructures greatly empowers the medical resources in Pudong New Area. The East Branch of Shanghai No.6 People’s Hospital and East Branch of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital were completed and opened for business; Shanghai International Medical Center and Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center were put into operation. Among district-level medical institutions, the South Branch of East Hospital and the new branch of Zhoupu Hospital were put into use; The ward building of Pudong People’s Hospital, the new outpatient and emergency building of Gongli Hospital, the comprehensive building of Punan Hospital as well as Jiangzhen and Sunqiao community health centers were successively opened for business.
According to the 13th Five-Year Plan of Pudong New Area for Health and Family Planning Reform and Development, the government of Pudong New Area will constantly improve medical hardware while exploring the combination between medical services and senior services, the combination between medical services and education, and the combination between medical services and sports in urban space, so as to improve the medical services in Pudong New Area in an comprehensively. To meet the expectation of local citizens for health, Pudong will build nine high-level hospitals and 13 community health centers in the next five years, so as to have at least 30 hospitals and 60 community health centers in the near future, connect the fragmented medical institutions at various levels, realize sharing of medical resources, establish the medical model characterized by “initial diagnosis at the grassroots level, two-way referral, separated treatment for acute and chronic diseases and up-to-bottom linkage”, and provide high-level medical services for citizens.
The Medical Service Chain will Cover the Whole of Pudong
In recent years, Pudong has always centered on the overall goal for economic and social development, advanced institutional reform in public medical institutions, promoted the balanced development of the health sector and further strengthened grassroots medical services and basic public health services. According to the 13th Five-year Plan of Pudong New Area, the “treatment-recovery-community and family” medical service chain will cover the whole of Pudong in the future, providing scientific, appropriate and continuous diagnosis and medical services for the citizens of Pudong. In the future, Pudong will build a medical center in both Lujiazui and Xinchang to provide medical services to patients with difficult, complicated, emergency, or severe diseases across Pudong; More than ten regional medical centers will provide medical services to residents with common or frequently-occurring diseases in the area; Community health centers will provide preliminary and referral medical services to patients with common, frequently-occurring or chronic diseases.
Shanghai is one of the earliest Chinese cities to have entered the aging society. As an area with a high degree of aging, Pudong New Area also works to; connect comprehensive geriatric departments and rehabilitation departments; nursing homes and rehabilitation hospitals with community health centers and nursing stations; establish the medical nursing and rehabilitation service system; popularize palliative treatment and nursing services; explore the senior nursing model that combines medical services and senior services; promote the effective connection among healthcare, medical services, rehabilitation, nursing and other services for seniors; and promote the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the nursing and rehabilitation services for seniors, so as to realize full coverage of medical, nursing, and rehabilitation services for seniors in the area. Meanwhile, it further advances the combination between medical services and senior services, and supports social forces in funding other types of institutions that combine medical services with senior services through franchise, the model in which institutions are funded by governments but run by private sectors, and the model in which institutions are funded by private sectors and subsidized by governments. It develops 15-minute basic medical service circles, improves senior medical service networks, scientifically plans and constructs fitness facilities for seniors, and improves the policy about free or low charge for use of large stadiums, so as to provide health care services for the old.
(The author is a part-time researcher with Shanghai Academy, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Statistical Society and off-campus master supervisor in finance of the School of Economics, Shanghai University.)
