It is difficult, slow and annoying to say goodbye to Chinese medicine —— Observation from the National Demonstration Zone of Comprehensive Reform of Chinese Medicine

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 18thTopic: It is difficult, slow and annoying to say goodbye to Chinese medicine —— Observation from the National Demonstration Zone for Comprehensive Reform of Chinese Medicine

Xinhua News Agency reporters Tian Xiaohang, Dong Xiaohong and Shuai Cai.

Create a 15-minute service circle of traditional Chinese medicine, carry out multi-disciplinary consultation of traditional Chinese medicine, and launch "CT of traditional Chinese medicine" to realize rapid physique identification … Focusing on the goal of obtaining greater health benefits at a lower cost, and exploring a healthy development model with China characteristics that conforms to the characteristics and laws of traditional Chinese medicine, seven provinces (cities) including Shanghai have been building a national demonstration zone for comprehensive reform of traditional Chinese medicine for two years.

The reporter’s recent investigation found that the demonstration area focused on the concerns of the masses and made reform breakthroughs in the service system, service model and medical insurance support of traditional Chinese medicine, making it more convenient, more secure and more economical.

More convenient: weaving the basic Chinese medicine service network

Mr. Gu, a citizen of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, suffered from hemiplegia due to cerebral infarction. After being treated by the Rehabilitation Department of Sichuan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, he was transferred to Qingyang District Chinese Medicine Center near his home to continue his hospitalization rehabilitation treatment. Being able to be hospitalized at the "doorstep" has made him a lot more practical and convenient.

Whether we can get through the "last mile" of Chinese medicine service is an important test of the effectiveness of the demonstration area construction.

"Let the community become the main position of Chinese medicine services." Wen Daxiang, director of the Shanghai Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, introduced that the city has built a "Chinese medicine service network at home" consisting of 249 community health service centers and 1986 community health service stations (village clinics) to integrate Chinese medicine services into residents’ living circles.

In order to let people get high-quality Chinese medicine services nearby, various demonstration areas have explored how to "weave the basic Chinese medicine service network"-

Baoxing County, Ya ‘an City, Sichuan Province has included Chinese medicine in the service of "Mobile Hospital on Vehicle", and all towns and villages, including every middle and high mountain township, have mobile medical service vehicles; Shandong, Jiangxi and other provinces continue to carry out the construction of grass-roots Chinese medicine clinics, and realize the full coverage of Chinese medicine clinics in township hospitals and community health service centers throughout the province …

Not only are there more and more "outlets" for grassroots Chinese medicine services, but the blessing of modern technology has also made Chinese medicine practitioners bid farewell to "difficulty, slowness and annoyance".

In the Digital Chinese Medicine Museum of Hongshiban Community, Gongshu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, residents can have physical examination experiences such as body composition analysis and TCM constitution identification through the "TCM CT" digital portrait system, and medical staff can provide targeted health intervention for patients according to the collected data.

"I’ve never felt more relaxed." On the basis of data collected by "TCM CT", Mr. Liu, a 50-year-old diabetic and hypertensive patient, had his blood sugar and blood pressure under control after three months of intervention of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine, and his weight was also reduced from 94 kg to 78 kg.

More peace of mind: improving the clinical diagnosis and treatment level of traditional Chinese medicine

On November 21, 2023, 76-year-old Huang Xingzhen was in critical condition due to rapid progress of lung infection, accompanied by heart failure, renal failure, respiratory failure, etc., but she was unwilling to receive invasive treatment such as tracheal intubation and hemofiltration. After careful treatment in the classic ward of Mianyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine with Chinese herbal pieces as the main means, Huang Xingzhen’s condition gradually improved, and now he has recovered and been discharged from hospital.

It is the "housekeeping skill" of the classic wards of traditional Chinese medicine to treat acute and difficult critical diseases under the guidance of traditional Chinese medicine. For difficult cases, Mianyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has also carried out dozens of multi-disciplinary joint consultations of traditional Chinese medicine, organized multi-disciplinary experts of traditional Chinese medicine to jointly study and formulate treatment plans, and strived to provide patients with the best treatment suggestions.

Efficacy is the lifeline of traditional Chinese medicine. In order to make patients feel more at ease in seeing Chinese medicine, some demonstration areas seek breakthroughs in the construction of superior specialties of Chinese medicine.

In view of the unbalanced service capacity of Chinese medicine medical institutions, Shandong has developed Qilu superior specialty cluster of Chinese medicine, and built 15 specialties, 28 clusters and 657 member specialties to promote the balanced development of county (city, district) Chinese medicine hospitals.

"As the lead unit of 10 clusters, the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine has formulated 36 diagnosis and treatment plans for dominant diseases of traditional Chinese medicine and promoted them at the grassroots level, striving to achieve homogeneous diagnosis and treatment." Xu Xiangqing, deputy dean of the First Clinical Medical College of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said.

The quality of Chinese medicine is good, and the curative effect can be guaranteed.

Shandong will build a wisdom-sharing Chinese pharmacy to effectively solve the problems of incomplete equipment and low quality of decoction pieces in primary medical institutions; Zhejiang realizes the one-key traceability of the whole chain of Chinese herbal medicines "one object, one yard", making the process from "field" to "bowl" clearly visible; Sichuan actively promotes the standardized cultivation of Chinese herbal medicines, and ensures the quality of Chinese herbal medicines from the source … The demonstration areas boldly explore and let the people rest assured to use Chinese herbal medicines.

Save more money: medical insurance policy leans towards Chinese medicine

The high hospitalization cost is a major pain point for seeking medical treatment. Therefore, many places in Shandong have carried out pilot projects of Chinese medicine day wards. Under this ward management mode, some dominant diseases of traditional Chinese medicine are included in the scope of medical insurance settlement management in TCM day wards, and patients can leave the hospital after the end of treatment on the same day.

In Weihai, after the introduction of TCM day wards, the average hospitalization expenses of patients decreased by more than 1,000 yuan, and the utilization rate of hospital beds doubled by reducing bed fees and nursing fees and reasonably controlling inspection and drug fees.

Enhancing the people’s sense of acquiring traditional Chinese medicine is the starting point and the end result of the construction of the national comprehensive reform demonstration zone of traditional Chinese medicine.

Shanghai carried out the reform of "paying by curative value" for dominant diseases of traditional Chinese medicine, determined the first batch of 22 diseases, and innovated the medical payment model of paying equal attention to Chinese and western medicine; Sichuan will promptly include qualified Chinese medicine projects and Chinese medicines into medical insurance payment, and the proportion of individuals who manage drugs according to Class B will be reduced to 10%; In 2022, 629 Chinese medicine hospital preparations will be included in the medical insurance in Hunan … Each demonstration area will continuously improve the medical insurance policy, saving more money for people to see and use Chinese medicine.

The reporter learned from state administration of traditional chinese medicine that the demonstration area has made active efforts in developing the service field of Chinese medicine and innovating the service mode of Chinese medicine, which has been strongly supported by the medical insurance policy and brought benefits to patients. Some reform measures have also achieved a win-win situation for patients, hospitals, medical insurance and Chinese medicine.

"In the next step, we will push forward the construction of the National Demonstration Zone for Comprehensive Reform of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and continue to March in depth, expand in breadth, and tackle difficulties, helping Chinese medicine to inherit and innovate, so that more places and more people can benefit." Ouyang Bo, deputy director of state administration of traditional chinese medicine Comprehensive Department, said.