Since the integration of the Yangtze River Delta was elevated to a national strategy, the three provinces and one municipality of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui have continued to promote the cross-regional flow of medical resources, so that people can access medical care and receive good medical care right at their doorstep.
69-year-old Qian Guoqin recently underwent surgery at Fengyang County People's Hospital in Chuzhou City, Anhui Province, through a referral and consultation center that invited an expert.
Patient Qian Guoqin: The hospital invited experts from other places to perform the surgery for us, allowing ordinary people like us to enjoy the same expert medical resources as those in big cities right here in our local area.
In the past, residents of Fengyang County often had to travel to Shanghai or Nanjing, even across provincial borders, for complex medical conditions. This involved long journeys, low reimbursement rates, and difficulties in securing appointments with specialists. Since the implementation of the Yangtze River Delta integration strategy, Anhui Province has proactively connected with regions rich in medical resources, such as Shanghai and Nanjing, attracting high-quality medical resources from the Yangtze River Delta to its lower levels through close-knit medical alliances, renowned doctor studios, and specialist alliances.
Xu Na, Party Secretary of Fengyang County People's Hospital in Chuzhou City, Anhui Province: These are some of the hospitals we mainly cooperate with. We currently have 18 departments cooperating with external partners, and 10 to 15 experts come to provide consultations every week.
By establishing hospitals across provinces and jointly building medical alliances, residents of the Yangtze River Delta region can enjoy high-quality medical services right at their doorstep. Meanwhile, the integration of cross-regional medical treatment empowered by digitalization has created more convenient conditions for population mobility.
In 2018, the three provinces and one municipality in the Yangtze River Delta took the lead in piloting direct settlement of inpatient and outpatient medical expenses for cross-provincial medical treatment.
In August 2020, direct settlement of inpatient and outpatient medical expenses for cross-regional medical treatment was realized, and it now covers 41 cities and more than 10,000 medical institutions in the Yangtze River Delta.
Chen Yueting, from Jiaxing, Zhejiang, works and lives in Shanghai year-round. When she was pregnant and gave birth, she chose to receive medical treatment in a Shanghai hospital. She completed the procedures for her newborn's household registration, ID card, medical insurance card, etc., in one stop through platforms such as "Suishenban" and "Zhejiang Office".
Chen Yueting, a new mother from Jiaxing, Zhejiang: I filled out the information, uploaded some photos, and it was all done in half an hour. The birth certificate was ready the next day, and the household registration book and social security card were also processed quickly. Basically, everything was completed in a week.
With the implementation of various plans under the 15th Five-Year Plan, the Yangtze River Delta region continues to break down administrative boundaries through institutional innovation and enhance service efficiency through digital technology, enabling more people to benefit from equitable, accessible, high-quality, and efficient health services. (CCTV News Client)
