National Push for 'Six-Disease Integrated Management': Ruijin Hospital and WeDoctor Set New Benchmark in Health-Oriented Healthcare Reform

On the afternoon of May 23, the National Health Commission held a press conference to introduce the promotion of Fujian Sanming’s healthcare reform experience, highlighting key priorities and providing practical tools for other regions to learn from Sanming’s model. Among these, the “Six-Disease Co-Management” model covering the full life cycle—jointly developed by Shanghai Ruijin Hospital and WeDoctor with national-level support and guidance for implementation in Sanming—is regarded as the core mechanism and essential component in building health-oriented medical consortia (medical alliances).

In recent years, the Sanming healthcare reform has been highly affirmed by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for its remarkable achievements and innovative practices, and has been designated as a national model for healthcare reform to be promoted “in light of local conditions.” Last December, ten ministries and commissions jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Comprehensively Advancing the Construction of Close-knit County-level Medical Communities” (Document No. 41), which clearly stipulated the timelines and task schedules for all regions in building close-knit county-level medical communities. Evidently, the “Sanming Model” has become a national benchmark for implementing the new round of healthcare reforms across China.

As the construction of medical consortia expands nationwide, the effective utilization and allocation of high-quality medical resources have become a focal point for all stakeholders. The “Joint Management of Six Diseases,” prominently featured at this press conference, represents a new practice and achievement of the Sanming Healthcare Reform as it advances into the 3.0 phase centered on health. Shanghai Ruijin Hospital has partnered with WeDoctor to leverage artificial intelligence technology in achieving “transfer of medical expertise,” providing grassroots medical institutions with cost-effective access to top-tier medical resources and promoting the sharing of medical resources across China.

In April this year, China’s first “Six-Disease Co-Management” Center for full-lifecycle care officially opened at Sanming First Hospital, marking the successful implementation of the “Six-Disease Co-Management” model in Sanming. Leveraging artificial intelligence technology, the center has introduced 37 cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic techniques as well as management protocols from Shanghai Ruijin Hospital to Sanming.

It is understood that the “AI-Enabled Integrated Management of Six Diseases” model addresses key bottlenecks in building a comprehensive chronic disease prevention and control system and enhancing the service capabilities of medical alliances (consortia). By leveraging the advantages of the Sanming Medical Consortium, integrating Ruijin Hospital’s cutting-edge medical technologies and extensive experience in chronic disease management, and utilizing WeDoctor’s digital and artificial intelligence technologies, the model has achieved seamless “translation” of these capabilities.

By leveraging “Ruijin Technology + Sanming Advantages + WeDoctor Support,” this model has established a comprehensive care system and multidisciplinary treatment model encompassing prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, management, and rehabilitation. It enables the joint treatment and management of six major chronic conditions: oncology, metabolic disorders, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, reproductive medicine, and geriatrics. This model not only focuses on disease diagnosis and treatment but also places greater emphasis on disease prevention, health management, and rehabilitation, thereby facilitating a shift from a “disease-centered” approach to a “health-centered” paradigm.

Against the backdrop of the Healthy China strategy, full-life-cycle health services have emerged as a new direction. Ning Guang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, introduced that the “Joint Management of Six Diseases” aims to comprehensively manage, from the perspective of full-life-cycle health management, the four major chronic diseases affecting the health of the Chinese population—metabolic diseases centered on diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and cancers—as well as reproductive medicine and geriatrics, addressing the health needs of both the young (“one young”) and the elderly (“one old”), thereby strengthening the foundational line of defense for public health.

The implementation of the “Six-Disease Integrated Management” model not only provides patients with the most cost-effective treatment plans but also plays a significant role in promoting the rational and efficient utilization of medical resources. By delivering full-lifecycle health management encompassing prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, management, and rehabilitation, this approach improves the detection, treatment, control, and rehabilitation rates for patients with chronic diseases. Consequently, it enhances patients’ quality of life, reduces premature mortality from major chronic diseases, and alleviates the disease burden associated with chronic conditions.

Shanghai Ruijin Hospital and WeDoctor pioneered the proposal and implementation of “Co-Management of Six Diseases” across the full life cycle. In December 2023, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital and WeDoctor signed a cooperation agreement to jointly build a “Full Life-Cycle Co-Management of Six Diseases” platform, engaging in in-depth collaboration on research into digital comprehensive prevention and control systems for the “Six Diseases,” development of co-management frameworks, and formulation of medication guidelines for co-managed care. The two parties also partnered with Tencent and other collaborators to develop and deploy standardized intelligent disease-specific products for the “Co-Management of Six Diseases,” supporting the establishment and upgrading of close-knit county-level medical consortia nationwide.

At a press conference, Xue Haining, Deputy Director of the Department of System Reform under the National Health Commission, emphasized that efforts to deepen reforms in key areas and critical links will be further intensified in the future, with a particular focus on strengthening digital empowerment in the development of close-knit medical consortia.

In recent years, the Sanming healthcare reform model has been continuously upgraded. Across China, practical implementation has consistently expanded and enriched its connotations, achieving positive progress in adapting and promoting the Sanming experience to local conditions. Notably, a number of typical cases of digital healthcare reform, including Tianjin’s Digital Health Community, have garnered significant attention.

Since its inception in 2020, the Tianjin Digital Health Community has established a “Four Clouds” platform—comprising Cloud Management, Cloud Services, Cloud Pharmacy, and Cloud Diagnostics—through institutional reforms and technological innovation. It has also deployed an intelligent disease-specific diagnosis and treatment system based on general artificial intelligence technologies and expert consensus. Driven by “pay-for-performance” reforms, such as capitated global budgeting for health insurance and the health stewardship responsibility system for outpatient special care for diabetes, this model has achieved significant results characterized by “two increases and one decrease”: enhanced primary healthcare service capacity, improved resident health indicators, and a slowed growth rate of health insurance expenditures.

As the “Six-Disease Co-Management” model expands from Sanming to the rest of China, medical consortia are evolving into health consortia. The trend of new healthcare reforms centered on health has been firmly established. How different regions can deliver satisfactory results by adapting measures to local conditions within the specified timeframe is crucial to public well-being. The exploratory experiences of Sanming and Tianjin have provided practical models for the innovative upgrading of China’s nationwide healthcare reform as a coordinated effort.