Organized by the China National Health Development Research Center, the third China Health Development Forum was held in Beijing on December 26, 2014. Sun Zhigang, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) and director of the Department of Healthcare Reform, attended the forum and delivered a speech.

Sun said that establishing a grading diagnosis and treatment system is an important part in deepening healthcare reform, which is also a task the NHFPC has paid attention to. The NHFPC is formulating a document about it. At present, local governments are exploring grading diagnosis and treatment patterns that suit local economic development. But difficulties and problems also exist in the implementation process of the grading diagnosis and treatment, which is why the forum is held to sharing local government experiences.

At the forum, heads and experts from the Bureau of Medical Administration of the NHFPC; the China National Health Development Research Center; the Health Insurance Division of the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Security; and the Chinese health development research center of Peking University delivered speeches about the grading diagnosis and treatment system, implementation, health insurance and motivation. Representatives from the administrative departments and health insurance departments of 31 provinces and cities exchanged ideas about “first diagnosis at the community-level healthcare institutions, a two-way referral system, separate treatment for acute and chronic diseases, and top-to-bottom linkage”.

The China Health Development Forum was originally set up in 2000. It was launched by the China National Health Development Research Center. It has been held twice to date. This time, it was themed around the grading diagnosis and treatment system, providing a chance for national health policy makers, executors and researchers to exchange ideas and experiences.