Shanxi forges ahead with integrated healthcare reform at county level

North China's Shanxi province has taken innovative steps to deepen its integrated healthcare reform, reshaping the county-level medical service system and tiered diagnosis and treatment model to improve the health of its citizens.

To allow the sharing of medical resources between counties and townships, the province has focused on institutional innovation and is optimizing the integration of county-level medical resources. With county-level general hospitals as the core, closely-knit county medical communities have been established by integrating public medical institutions within the jurisdiction into an independent medical group that implements a unified management system for administration, personnel, finances, operations, performance and pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Meanwhile, Shanxi has continuously improved the allocation of grassroots medical resources and enhanced the diagnosis and treatment capacity at the grassroots level. Following the principle of "one village, one clinic", each village clinic receives a monthly post allowance of 1,000 yuan ($137.61) for each on-duty village doctor. Additionally, a total of 1,000 on-duty village doctors are recruited annually to pursue higher education diplomas, so as to ensure a stable supply of qualified village doctors and enhance rural medical services.

With the development of artificial intelligence and 5G technology, the integrated healthcare reform at the county level has been driven by the concept of "smart healthcare". An artificial intelligence-assisted capability platform and 5G remote medical service platform, constructed by the Health Commission of Shanxi Province, are currently undergoing trial operations, contributing to the continuous improvement of diagnosis and treatment capabilities of grassroots medical personnel.