Commercial insurance now covers Dapuqiao neighborhood health center
Shanghai's community-based medical facilities are an important part of the local healthcare system.
The Dapuqiao Neighborhood Health Center is the nation's first community-level clinic to be incorporated into the commercial insurance system. Previously, such insurance only covered medical expenses in public hospitals at the district and city levels, as well as high-end private clinics.
"Community-based medical institutions provide distinct advantages in health education, chronic disease management, and disease screening. Patients with chronic conditions require long-term monitoring and medication, so they can save time and money by attending community clinics rather than overcrowded major hospitals. Cooperation with commercial medical insurance will greatly benefit such people," said Jin Ying, director of Dapuqiao Neighborhood Health Center.
"It is also an opportunity to boost our hospital's development, as we can learn modern management and perfect our system through cooperation with leading insurance companies."
Doctors at Dapuqiao Neighborhood Health Center conducts rehabilitation service for patients.
Local health authorities have worked to improve the city's categorized health care and encourage people to contact local community GPs for primary care, common and chronic diseases, and health management.
"In Shanghai, every subdistrict or town, or every 50,000 to 100,000 residents, has one neighborhood health facility, and every 10,000 to 20,000 people will have a health care station to provide convenient service to locals. Yang Chao of the Shanghai Health Commission stated that approximately 87 percent of the amenities are within 15 minutes' walking distance of the population. "We want the residents to visit their nearby grassroots facilities for basic service."
Community-based medical clinics have access to more drugs, high-end diagnostic and treatment machines, basic surgeries, and priority in top hospitals for patient transfers.
A woman consults with a nurse at Pujiang Neighborhood Health Center, which provides nursing care for wounds, diabetes, hospice, and peripherally placed central catheters.
In a recent trial, the government gave neighborhood health centers half of the leading hospitals' outpatient quota five days in advance for online reservations. To ensure prompt diagnosis and treatment, the GP can reserve the expert's quota two to three days in advance.
GPs can refer patients to senior specialists, recommend the best providers, and reserve patient quotas online. The top hospitals have normal, specialist, and VIP clinics.
All 248 community health centers have started connecting 36 city-based and 116 district-based hospitals. Officials say everyday service use has climbed from 200 to 300 to 700.
Under the experiment, 62.5 percent of individuals using the service have chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, while 77.4 percent are over the age of 60.
