The National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly held a public hospital comprehensive reform symposium in Fujian’s Sanming city from June 13-14. Li Bin, minister of the NHFPC, and Wang Baoan, vice-minister of the Ministry of Finance, attended the symposium and delivered speeches. Ma Xiaowei, vice-minister of the NHFPC, hosted the meeting.

The meeting pointed out that health care reform is a global headache, with public hospital reform being the most difficult. Since public hospital reform kicked off in 2010, all pilot cities have followed deployments by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and produced positive results through innovation and bold experiments, paving the way for deepening reform.

The meeting urged public hospital reform to follow four principals. First, reform should increase government investment, maintain public welfare and medical service, and implement government responsibilities in medical development. Second, efforts should coordinate and push ahead various work to ensure a systematic, integrated and collaborative reform. Third, the reform should step up efforts in key areas and crucial links, and take bold steps to solve problems. Fourth, pilot regions should be encouraged to develop innovation mechanisms that can be copied and promoted.

The meeting pointed out that the number of cities up for public hospital reform increased from 17 to 34 this year. It asked all parties to take care of the following work.

First, all parties should make scientific medical and health resources planning, clarify functions, and control single hospital scale and standards.

Second, all parties should proscribe linking drug sales with doctor’s income, and establish a scientific compensation mechanism to ensure good hospital operations.

Third, all parties should push ahead the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system. All pilot cities should take administration, health insurance and price measures based on local circumstances and build a hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system featuring primary diagnosis at the grassroots level, two-way referral system, separated treatment for acute and chronic diseases, and dynamic cooperation.

Fourth, all parties should deepen medical insurance payment system reform. Medical costs should be based on disease and conduct prepayment and other medical insurance payment reforms. The parties should enhance the medical insurance incentive and constraint mechanism for medical service, and control unreasonable medical expense growth.

Fifth, the parties should establish a salary system that fits with the characteristics of the medical industry. They should give public hospitals the autonomy in choosing employees and build a flexible employment mechanism. The parties should deepen income distribution system reform and significantly raise medical staff income to fully arouse their work enthusiasm.