Foshan deepens medical reform

Foshan in South China's Guangdong province will carry out reforms on the medicine and medical materials supply chain starting July 1, aiming to reduce medical costs for local residents.

Under the new medical system, all public medical institutions in Foshan will purchase medicine and medical consumables through a newly-built open management platform.

The open management service platform will be linked with a third-party trading platform, hospital information systems, and relevant governmental administrative departments.

The platform will be responsible for gathering requirements, supervising purchasing procedures, and monitoring the use of medicine and medical materials.

Some flexibility is allowed for some public medical organizations based on their specific situation.

According to the Foshan Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, a trial procedure for centralized purchasing of medicine and materials has been released, serving as a large step toward medical insurance reform.

Supply chain targets have been reformed to ensure sufficient supplies of drugs and to solve the issue of drug shortages, said an official at the bureau.

At the same time, the price of medicine is expected to decrease by 10 percent and the price of materials by 15 percent.

A medical worker shows a patient how to use WeChat to access hospital services in Foshan, Guangdong province. [Photo provided to China Daily]