China moves to further improve family doctor services

BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's health authorities have issued new measures aimed at further improving family doctor services.

The National Health Commission, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, recently issued a circular outlining measures to further deepen and expand family doctor contract services.

According to the document, all physicians in the clinical categories of internal medicine and pediatrics, as well as traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, working in primary-level healthcare institutions, should by the end of 2026 serve as family doctors and provide contract services.

By the end of 2027, doctors from secondary and tertiary hospitals who have been assigned to primary healthcare institutions for more than one year should, in principle, also participate in such services, it says.

The circular calls for the orderly advancement of a family doctor first-contact responsibility system, under which contracted residents will be given priority access to consultations with their designated family doctors at primary healthcare institutions.

If a patient's condition exceeds the professional scope of a family doctor, the doctor should, with the patient's consent, first refer the patient to another specialist within the same institution.

When referral to a higher-level hospital is necessary, family doctors should make use of reserved appointment slots, hospital beds and fast-track referral channels available through closely integrated medical alliances to ensure timely treatment.

The circular also calls for expanding family doctor services from chronic disease management to the coordinated management of both chronic and infectious diseases.

Under the new policy, family doctors are expected to provide contracted residents, especially key groups such as the elderly and children, with health education, referral services, follow-up management and vaccination-related services for common respiratory, digestive and vector-borne diseases, as well as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

By the end of next year, all primary healthcare institutions are expected to incorporate infectious disease prevention and control into their family doctor service packages, according to the circular.

China launched family doctor contract services in 200 cities nationwide in 2016 as part of broader efforts to strengthen primary-level healthcare services, with plans to steadily expand their coverage.