County-level government officials will bid farewell to medicine

How can public hospitals be reformed, how can they be overcome by medicine, and how can they avoid seeing deadly cheap drugs?

On the 7th, at the summit of the research hospital in China, Liang Wannian, director of the Department of Structural Reform of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, responded to these focus issues one by one. Next year, all county-level public hospitals will bid farewell to the “drug bonuses”.

County-level public hospitals will bid farewell to "the use of drugs to support medical care."

Outpatients see a common disease, and medical fees of hundreds of dollars are common. All along, the big prescriptions are the objects of “strike hard” and can be repeated for many times. Why? Because the drugs sold by the hospital can be increased by 15%, which is commonly known as "the use of drugs to support medical care."

Liang Wannian, director of the Department of Physical and Economic Reform of the National Health and Planning Commission, said that in order to get rid of the “prescription for medicine”, 1011 pilot counties in county-level public hospitals in the country have initiated reforms.

“An important part of the reform is the compensation channels at county-level public hospitals, and the elimination of drug add-on income.” Liang Wannian said that this means that county-level public hospitals will no longer “use medicine to provide medicine”.

According to the timetable, in 2014, the pilots for comprehensive reform of county-level public hospitals in all provinces and municipalities will account for half of the total number of hospitals and will be fully implemented in 2015. The core goal of the reform is to completely cut off the interest chain between hospitals, doctors, and medicines, and to eliminate the profit-seeking operating mechanism of public hospitals and return to public welfare.

It is reported that currently there are 40 counties and 123 county-level public hospitals in Henan are steadily advancing reforms.

The doctor will publish more details of the practice

In this forum, several experts proposed to encourage "social treatment." Liang Wannian also stated that it is necessary to clear up all unscientific regulations that hinder "social treatment."

Wang Faqiang, president of the China Research Hospital Association, said that doctors are more commonly referred to as “taking acupuncture points.” This is a common phenomenon, but there are many problems in management. Some doctors also said that if you openly go to practice at a “competitor”, isn’t it “finding something”?

In this regard, Liang Wannian said that the state has always encouraged the specification of doctors to practice more, but it must be regulated: "At present, we are coordinating with relevant departments to formulate detailed rules for the management of doctors practicing more."

It is reported that the country has set out a specific timetable, which will be introduced in September.

Will introduce regulations to control drug prices

Last year, the cheap drug methimazole used to treat hyperthyroidism suddenly went out of steam and several provinces were sold out. "Henan Commercial Daily" continued to publish reports on this, paying attention to the "cheap drugs" disappearing one by one.

Liang Wannian said that the country is studying the establishment of a supply mechanism for the supply of shortage drugs. For drugs that are clinically necessary but have a small amount of supply and are in short supply, they will adopt fixed-point production methods such as tenders to ensure supply and improve the shortage of drug reserves.

At the same time, during the circulation of medicines, drug prices and other "upside-down" rises, Liang Wannian said, regulating the issue of the order of drug circulation, comprehensive supervision of all aspects from production to circulation, crack down on high prices.

It is reported that the formulation of these two regulatory documents is required to be completed this year.

Medical insurance

Now our country's commercial medical insurance is underdeveloped, which causes a large pressure on basic insurance. We have asked relevant departments to issue a number of documents on the development of stable commercial medical insurance. We must develop commercial insurance and play its role.

The efficiency of public hospitals in China may be the highest in the world, but the efficiency of China's healthcare system is not very high. The high efficiency of a single point does not mean that the system is highly efficient. Many institutional arrangements cancel each other out and interactions have the opposite effect.

The core of the reform must be to reform the institutional mechanisms. If the original mechanism is still solidified, the more investment, the more terrible the consequences.

Say income

The hospital should really raise the price of labor technology and lower the cost of medicines, consumables and inspections. Foreign drugs account for less than 30%, or even less than 20%, and our country is now about 60%. To adjust this structure, most of the hospital's income is the price of labor technology, doctors have to raise their wages, and the hospital can do other things.