National People's Congress Delegate Li Yan Proposes Accelerating the Integration of Medical, Pharmaceutical, and Rehabilitation Services to Enhance Elderly Healthcare Quality | 2026 Two Sessions Policy Insight

Data shows that by the end of 2025, China's population aged 60 and above had reached 323 million, accounting for 23% of the total population.By 2035, this figure is projected to exceed 400 million, and China will enter a stage of severe population aging.Amid the backdrop of multimorbidity and high prevalence of chronic diseases among the elderly population, the demand for integrated medical, pharmaceutical, and rehabilitation services is becoming increasingly urgent.

Recently, Li Yan, President of Qilu Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. and a deputy to the National People's Congress, stated in an interview with VCBeat that although the state has introduced a series of policies to promote the development of elderly-friendly medical institutions and the integration of medical care with elderly care, achieving phased results,However, shortcomings remain in the “last mile” of policy implementation.

In the Face of This Dilemma, Li Yan Prescribed “Four Effective Remedies”: First, improve multi-departmental collaborative supervision to strengthen the quality defense line; second, build an integrated “medical-pharmaceutical-rehabilitation” closed loop, break down information barriers, and achieve service continuity; third, enhance industrial collaboration to increase the supply and adaptability of age-appropriate pharmaceuticals and medical devices; fourth, bolster end-of-life care by incorporating palliative care into key evaluation metrics and accelerating efforts to fill the supply gap.

Li Yan, Deputy to the National People's Congress and President of Qilu Pharmaceutical Group

In recent years, the Chinese government has made sustained efforts to promote the development of age-friendly medical institutions and the integration of medical care with elderly care.

Data shows that 94.4% of public hospitals at the secondary level and above have established “green channels” for elderly patients; 15,624 general hospitals have been certified as age-friendly medical institutions; there are 8,427 integrated medical and elderly care facilities; and 85,000 partnerships have been established between medical and health institutions and elderly care service providers across China.

However, challenges remain to be overcome in the “last mile” of policy implementation.

According to the “2024 Insight Report on Demand for Micro-Renovations in Elderly-Friendly Healthcare” released by the China Association of Gerontology Industry and other organizations, the complexity of hospital medical processes is the primary pain point for older adults, with over 90% of surveyed seniors requiring accompaniment during medical visits.

In terms of the physical environment, issues such as small font sizes and low color contrast on signage, outdated facilities in accessible restrooms, and inconvenient wheelchair rental services remain common. Regarding digital services, nearly 60% of surveyed elderly individuals have called for hospitals to develop an “elderly-friendly version” of their online systems, while nearly half of family members have expressed a desire for the addition of a one-click medical consultation feature.

The adaptability of pharmaceutical and medical device supply is also far from optimistic.

Li Yan has found that the market suffers from a scarcity of age-appropriate pharmaceuticals and medical devices specifically designed for the elderly—such as formulations that are easy to swallow and portable testing equipment suitable for home use—resulting in a poor match with the actual needs of clinical diagnosis and treatment.

“Meanwhile, the prevalence of polypharmacy (concurrent use of ≥5 medications) is high among elderly patients,Elderly patients with multimorbidity take an average of 5.6 medications, with a potential risk rate of drug interactions as high as 37%.“However, less than 30% of hospitals nationwide have implemented standardized and systematic special management programs for rational drug use,” said Li Yan.

More prominently, the coordination mechanism among “medical care–pharmaceuticals–healthcare” is inadequate.

Li Yan told VCBeat that the information barriers among the three major sectors—medical care, pharmacy, and rehabilitation—remain formidable. A unified electronic health record system for the elderly has not yet been fully integrated, leaving them trapped in a predicament of “repeated referrals, duplicate tests, and fragmented services” as they navigate between hospitals, rehabilitation institutions, and community care settings. The data interoperability rate remains below 30%.

“Moreover, there is a significant structural imbalance on the service supply side: on one hand, there is a massive shortage of professional talent, particularly among elderly care workers, with a deficit of up to 3.5 million; on the other hand, medical and elderly care resources are unevenly distributed across regions, with a severe scarcity of beds in major cities coexisting with high vacancy rates in third- and fourth-tier cities. In addition, palliative care services, which serve as crucial support during the final stage of life, remain particularly underdeveloped. Among more than 1.07 million medical and health institutions nationwide, only over 4,000 have established palliative care departments, accounting for less than 0.4%,” pointed out Li Yan.

To address the aforementioned issues, Li Yan recommends implementing a “combination punch” across the following four areas.

First, improve the regulatory coordination mechanism to strengthen the quality assurance of elderly health services.

Li Yan recommends establishing a multi-departmental collaborative regulatory mechanism involving health, drug supervision, civil affairs, and medical insurance authorities, with clearly defined regulatory responsibilities: The health department should focus on supervising the quality of elderly medical services and the coordination between medical care and rehabilitation; the drug supervision department should prioritize the quality and clinical suitability of age-appropriate pharmaceuticals and medical devices; the civil affairs department should focus on integrating elderly care services with rehabilitation and nursing resources; and the medical insurance department should guide healthcare institutions to optimize elderly health services through medical insurance payment policies.

It is recommended that the National Health Commission take the lead in continuously strengthening dynamic supervision, evaluation, and rectification of elderly-friendly medical institutions, and collaborate with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to guide hospitals in deeply advancing the age-appropriate adaptation of digital technologies, thereby optimizing and upgrading specialized features such as large fonts, large icons, elder mode, and barrier-free medical services.

Second, build an integrated “medical care–pharmaceuticals–rehabilitation” closed loop to enhance the continuity of health services for the elderly.

Li Yan recommended advancing the development of “Integrated Medical and Elderly Care Health Service Consortia” by integrating resources from tertiary hospitals, secondary hospitals, community health service centers, rehabilitation institutions, and elderly care facilities within the region. This initiative aims to achieve unified management of electronic health records and facilitate cross-institutional and cross-level information sharing, thereby breaking down “information silos.” It seeks to address issues such as frequent referrals, redundant examinations, and gaps in care for the elderly, ultimately establishing a closed-loop system where minor ailments are managed in the community, serious conditions are treated at hospitals, and rehabilitation is conducted back in the community.

and vigorously address the structural imbalance in medical and elderly care resources, guiding some secondary and lower-level medical institutions to actively transform into rehabilitation hospitals and nursing homes, and encouraging county- and district-level medical institutions to actively provide integrated medical and elderly care services; effectively improve the quality of integrated “prescription–medication–rehabilitation” services, implement long-term prescription management for elderly patients with chronic diseases, and reduce frequent hospital visits by patients.

Third, strengthen industrial coordination and guidance to enhance the supply and suitability of age-appropriate pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Li Yan stated that it is necessary to strengthen the coordination mechanism between health authorities, drug regulatory agencies, and pharmaceutical companies, and to establish a platform that aligns clinical needs with R&D supply. Companies should be guided through policy incentives to increase age-appropriate R&D efforts, such as developing easy-to-swallow formulations, portable diagnostic devices, and intelligent rehabilitation equipment. Furthermore, standards for clinical adaptability assessment and feedback mechanisms should be improved. Medical institutions should take the lead in conducting clinical trials and effectiveness evaluations, providing timely feedback to pharmaceutical companies to foster a virtuous cycle of “demand–R&D–application–iteration.”

Fourth, strengthen palliative care.

In Li Yan’s view, the capacity to provide hospice care (palliative care) should be incorporated as a key evaluation dimension in the development of age-friendly medical institutions. Hospitals at Level II and above are required to gradually establish dedicated palliative care wards or units across the board. Efforts should be strengthened to cultivate professional talent and build multidisciplinary teams, promoting services such as palliative medicine, pain management, psychological comfort, and family support. Exploration should be conducted into including palliative care in medical insurance reimbursement schemes, while encouraging participation from social forces to accelerate the closure of supply gaps.