China sets new rules on entirely foreign hospitals in 9 regions

BEIJING – China’s recent decision to authorize the creation of entirely foreign hospitals in nine regions mainly aims to provide diversified medical services to foreigners living in the country and Chinese people, authorities said on November 29.

A statement published on the official website of the National Health Commission said the nine regions will import high-level medical resources, enrich national medical services and experience an improved business environment.

He also added that a series of rules and regulations will be implemented to supervise entirely foreign hospitals.

China announced in early September that it would allow the establishment of entirely foreign-owned hospitals in nine pilot regions as part of efforts to expand opening-up in the health sector.

The nine regions are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Fuzhou in Fujian province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, and the entire island of Hainan.

In an action plan released on November 30, the commission, together with the Ministry of Commerce, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, sets out the conditions, requirements and specific procedures for the creation of such hospitals.

The commission said the all-foreign hospitals are intended to provide diversified health services to foreigners working, studying and living in China as well as Chinese people with special needs.

“The nine trial regions we selected have large populations, high requirements for medical services and quality health infrastructure. Moreover, these regions have created a favorable business environment, absorbing 45 percent of the total use of foreign capital in China,” the commission said.

With a high density of foreign companies and foreign companies, as well as busy international air routes in these regions, the trial program is expected to move forward smoothly.

In addition to satisfying foreigners’ demands, the commission said these hospitals can also provide services to some Chinese with special demands, and their management and operating mechanisms could offer lessons for domestic medical institutions.

In response to concerns that foreign hospitals – which tend to promise higher salaries – are likely to poach experienced professionals from public hospitals, the commission said the trial program would be limited to certain regions and would be gradually implemented.

“National hospitals remain an attractive place to work in the labor market… and the number of healthcare professionals in public hospitals has continued to increase, reaching 7.72 million at the end of last year,” the commission said.

He adds that China has allowed joint financing of hospitals by Chinese and foreign agencies for more than two decades, and there are currently more than 60 such institutions across the country.

“We have accumulated mature and comprehensive experiences and regulations regarding foreign-funded hospitals…and these jointly-funded hospitals have so far shown no signs of impact on the flow of medical personnel from local national hospitals. »

The action plan stipulates that fully foreign hospitals must comply with a number of national laws and regulations as well as a series of targeted requirements.

For example, the information management system of these hospitals should be linked to the local supervision platform and their servers storing electronic medical records and medical equipment information should be located on the mainland to ensure information security medical.

Health authorities will also exercise oversight over these hospitals in the same way as their national counterparts and hold them to the same medical quality management standards.

To avoid the risk of leakage of human genetic resources, the action plan stipulates that wholly owned foreign hospitals are prohibited from establishing hematology institutions, hematology clinical departments, carrying out transplants of human organs, assisted reproduction treatments, prenatal screening or prenatal diagnosis services.

Wholly-owned foreign hospitals can apply to participate in China’s National Basic Medical Insurance if they meet national requirements for service payment approaches and service pricing standards. CHINA DAILY/ASIAN NEWS NETWORK