During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, North China's Shanxi province has taken the lead in deepening the reform of medical and health care system integration through combined efforts, which have ensured people's easier access to medical resources and services.

Deepening reform of county-level medical and health care system

Shanxi has integrated and optimized medical resources at the county-level, formed county-level medical service communities, as well as established a new medical and health care service system. 

To achieve these, for example, the province has integrated public medical and health institutions in the jurisdiction of a county into an independent legal person medical group led by local public comprehensive hospitals.

Innovative approaches have been adopted to upgrade managing patterns, operating mechanisms, human resources management, and salary distribution in county-level medical groups to promote the development of these medical groups.

Improving grassroots medical service capacity 

Shanxi has enhanced grassroots medical service capacity by further constructing rural medical and health care infrastructure, cultivating and introducing medical talent, as well as strengthening management of impoverished patients with chronic diseases.

To date, the province has built 6,356 new rural clinics, reconstructed and expanded 6,689 rural clinics, as well as procured 274,181 medical facilities for rural clinics.

It has improved town and village-level medical and health talent cultivation by taking measures, such as carrying out free training of medical students for rural clinics, furthering training of rural doctors, as well as establishing a supplement mechanism of reserve talent in rural clinics.

Greater importance has been attached to medical services to impoverished patients, especially those with chronic diseases. A total of 432,300 impoverished patients with chronic diseases have received face-to-face follow-up visits. 

Making use of medical groups' advantages in management and medical resource allocation, 117 county-level medical groups in Shanxi have strengthened the capacity of grassroots medical institutions to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Enhancing overall health care level 

Shanxi will roll out four major measures to further enhance its overall health care level for the future.

The province will establish and develop provincial regional medical centers, with strong influence and great power, to promote regional medical and health care development.

It will continue the 136 Medical Program, the advance tech-driven medicine development plan, as well as introduce 100 doctors in the medicine and health fields to develop key clinical medicine specialties, innovative clinical research teams, and influential comprehensive hospitals.

Projects on strengthening traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) service ability and TCM professionals' cultivation will be carried out.

In addition, 117 county-level medical groups are encouraged to conduct assistance matchmaking with top-level tertiary hospitals in the province, and develop 5G-based intelligent medical systems and telemedicine.