Medical reform repeatedly breaks barriers. Why is the "Wuhu Experience" being promoted nationwide again?

"The most important indicator of modernization remains people's health; it is the foundation of their happy lives." Simply put, health is not only the foundation of livelihoods but also the source of happiness.

On September 29th, the National Health Commission held a press conference in Wuhu to introduce information on "Promoting the Sanming Medical Reform Experience and Deepening Public Hospital Reform with a Public Welfare Orientation." Holding the press conference in Wuhu not only acknowledged the achievements of the reform but also demonstrated that the experience here is exemplary, scalable, and replicable, allowing it to be promoted nationwide through a national platform.

Medical reform has long been recognized as a global challenge. How has Wuhu, a city-wide initiative focused on public health, repeatedly captured national attention?

Behind this journey lies a multi-year deep dive into reform, a resolute return to the public welfare nature of public hospitals, and a city-wide journey that lives up to expectations to fulfill its people's aspirations for a better life.

Where Does Confidence Come From? – From Industrial Highland to Medical Reform Experimental Field

Reform is never a castle in the air. Wuhu's courage to pioneer in the deep waters of medical reform is inseparable from its solid economic foundation and its pioneering spirit.

This is the hometown of Chery and the fertile soil of Conch. From a small thatched cottage on the Yangtze River to the ringing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, from raising funds "out of thin air" by selling a cement plant to nurturing two Fortune 500 companies, Wuhu's development history is a story of daring to break through.

When this renowned manufacturing city turns its attention to the people's livelihood, its courage and strategic vision remain unwavering. A solid industrial economy not only provides the necessary financial support for reform but, more importantly, it fosters a city's confidence in "not fearing disruption but excelling at achieving success."

With a strong industrial foundation, Wuhu also has a strong commitment to people's livelihoods.

As the second largest economic city in the province, Wuhu has always been willing to invest in people's livelihoods. In the health sector alone, the city's health expenditures have remained at around 9% of the general public budget over the past three years. This isn't just an economic issue; it's also a political and public interest issue.

Understanding market logic and, even more so, understanding the public welfare nature of health care.

Wuhu is deeply versed in the dialectic of "government and market." In the industrial sector, it respects the market and stimulates vitality; in the areas of public welfare, it strengthens government responsibility and adheres to the bottom line of public welfare. This precise sense of role is the unique wisdom of Wuhu's medical reform.

As a result, we see that the top-level design of "high-level promotion, integrated three medical systems, and demonstration-driven development" is systematic and pragmatic. A leading group for medical reform, co-chaired by the municipal party secretary and mayor, has been established. Regular meetings on public hospital reform are held to discuss core tasks such as fiscal investment, staffing guarantees, and salary reform, and to coordinate solutions to reform difficulties. The deputy mayor in charge oversees and promotes the deepening of medical reform. A regular consultation system between the health and medical care departments and medical insurance has been established, focusing on key areas such as medical service price adjustments, medical insurance payment reform, and centralized pharmaceutical procurement, and conducting specialized coordination. A municipal party committee office for deepening medical reform has been established, and all four counties (cities and districts) in the city have established party committee health and medical care work committees, fostering a unified city-wide effort.

The "Wuhu Way of Play," once rooted in industrial development and achieved through systematic breakthroughs, has now been replicated on the battlefield of medical reform, becoming a viable strategy for breaking the ice.

Stay true to our original aspiration: to return public hospitals to the public good.

Strengthening the city through industry is the solid foundation of Wuhu's medical reform; serving the people is the city's unwavering value.

With financial security, streamlined relationships, and clear responsibilities, Wuhu began tackling each of its "difficulties" one by one: 28 specific tasks, including addressing personnel recruitment management, dynamic adjustments to medical service prices, and debt resolution for public hospitals, became Wuhu's "checklist" of reform challenges and bottlenecks.

The key to reform is always people.

For hospitals, they can operate with ease. Over the past three years, through the public hospital debt resolution initiative, eight municipal public hospitals have resolved 1 billion yuan in long-term debt, effectively reducing their burdens and enabling them to operate more efficiently, thus further purifying their public welfare foundation.

For doctors, they can practice with dignity and respect. Since 2022, Wuhu has adjusted the prices of 572 medical services, increasing the proportion of medical service revenue in public hospitals from 29.3% to 37.9%, reflecting the value of medical technology and labor. Innovative salary determination methods link total wages to medical service volume, cost control, and public welfare indicators. This allows public hospitals to maintain their public welfare nature while stimulating development vitality. A dynamic staffing adjustment mechanism has been established, bringing over 1,000 outstanding non-staff medical personnel and university-graduate village doctors into staffing management, allowing them to find a sense of belonging and fostering a positive development trend that retains and effectively utilizes talent.

For the benefit of patients, Wuhu has established a physical "Consultation and Referral Center," which is not a cold administrative agency but a warm resource dispatch hub. A city-wide shared expert database provides multidisciplinary consultations for difficult and complicated cases, and referrals to primary care hospitals are appointment-free. These measures aim to ensure that residents can see specialists and receive treatment close to home.

The data is silent, but it speaks volumes: By 2024, the number of insured patients transferred outside the city decreased by 12,000, a year-on-year decrease of 17.6%. The number of patients with serious illnesses, such as cancer, seeking treatment locally increased by 15%, and the personal expenses of patients undergoing malignant tumor surgery decreased by over 50%. Patients' actions are the best vote for reform.

The underlying logic behind all this is to restore public hospitals to their true public character and doctors to their true nature as physicians.

Where to Aspire: From "Curing Illness" to "Health"

Taking on the tough challenge of "healthcare reform" wasn't a whim of Wuhu; it was a resolute necessity. Toward this end, Wuhu's path wasn't easy, but it achieved remarkable success step by step:

In 2007, Wuhu was the first city nationwide to initiate the separation of medical care and pharmacy, severing the profit chain between doctors and pharmacists. This reform has become known as the "Wuhu Model" of medical reform.

In 2010, Wuhu became one of 17 national pilot cities for public hospital reform.

In 2012, all counties in Wuhu were included in the first batch of national pilot counties for comprehensive reform of county-level public hospitals, and comprehensive performance target assessments for public hospitals were implemented.

In 2019, Wuhu City was approved as a national pilot city for the development of a modern hospital management system, a national pilot city for urban medical alliances, and a national pilot city for close-knit county-level medical communities, vigorously promoting closer collaboration among medical institutions in the Yangtze River Delta.

From 2022 to 2023, Wuhu City was selected as one of the first pilot cities for the National Demonstration Project for Public Hospital Reform and High-Quality Development, a pilot city for the development of a national close-knit urban medical group, and a provincial-level comprehensive medical reform demonstration zone. Its significant achievements in comprehensive medical reform were recognized by the State Council's inspection team.

Throughout this journey, we have witnessed that, under the guise of reform, this is actually a conceptual leap from "medical care" to "health." A smart health service platform, the "Wuhu Healthy Brain," has been established, connecting nearly 1,000 medical and health institutions across the city. It aggregates over 3.5 million residents' electronic health records and shares data from health, medical insurance, and drug administration departments, allowing data to be used more efficiently and patients to travel less. A nationwide health promotion system has been established, fostering the concept of "preventive treatment" among the public. Family doctors are contracted to visit households, providing personalized chronic disease management and integrating health literacy into daily life. The line of defense for health has been shifted from hospitals to individuals.

This is also a city-wide practice of moving from "health" to "happiness." When "Wuhu Medical Reform" and "City of Happiness" resonate in unison, the city's warmth is naturally radiating.

Reform has no end, but the direction is clear. Wuhu's medical reform, a ship carrying the people's dream of health, is sailing towards a deeper and more fulfilling blue ocean of livelihoods with pioneering courage and a people-oriented spirit.

Translated by Wang Yafang from Jinning Foreign Affairs Services of Anhui Province Co.,Ltd