Nanping Launches Digital Health Community Based on Sanming Reform Model

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on October 9, the Nanping Municipal People’s Government of Fujian Province signed a strategic cooperation agreement with WeDoctor Group. On the same day, a citywide mobilization meeting was convened to fully launch the construction of the Nanping Health Community (hereinafter referred to as “Health Community”). Nearly 1,000 attendees participated in the meeting, including key leaders from the four major municipal bodies and heads of various functional departments across the city.

The “Nanping City Health Community Leadership Group” was established on the same day, with Yuan Yi, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, serving as the group leader, and Chen Yunshui, Member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, serving as the deputy group leader. An office and functional teams were set up under the leadership group to advance the construction of the health community. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed within 180 days, aiming to establish Nanping as a national model for health community development.

At the meeting, Yuan Yi provided a comprehensive deployment of the importance, urgency, and implementation roadmap for the Nanping Health Community initiative. Zhan Jifu, the key architect of the Sanming healthcare reform and Director of the Standing Committee of the Sanming Municipal People’s Congress, shared insights on Sanming’s “Three-Medical Linkage” reform experience. He also assumed the role of Advisor to the Nanping Municipal Government, guiding the Nanping Health Community project to implement the reform goal of being “people-health-centered,” building upon the lessons learned from Sanming. Liao Jieyuan, Chairman and CEO of WeDoctor Group, presented the construction plans for the Nanping Health Community, covering medical services, pharmaceuticals, health insurance, integrated medical and elderly care, and the development of Health Towns.

We understand that the Nanping Health Community project is centered on health and supported by a digital platform. Vertically, it will integrate medical institutions at the municipal, county, township, and village levels to build a four-tier digital healthcare system. Horizontally, it will achieve coordinated development across healthcare services, pharmaceuticals, medical insurance, and elderly care. Within six months, Nanping will implement city-wide centralized procurement of drugs and consumables and launch a smart medical insurance platform. It will establish a health maintenance system and a digital elderly care system, both centered on electronic health records and personal health profiles. Additionally, it will create the “Healthy Nanping” portal for the city’s 3.21 million residents, ultimately achieving three major goals: improving regional medical service levels, enhancing residents’ health indicators, and reducing the growth rate of medical expenditures.

“Building the Health Community is the primary lever for advancing Nanping’s healthcare reform; it is a war without smoke,” emphasized Yuan Yi at the meeting. He stated that establishing the Health Community is not only a key measure to deepen healthcare reform and a livelihood project urgently anticipated by the public, but also a green and sunrise industry with broad prospects. Furthermore, it is a “top-leader” project that requires strong and robust organizational leadership. By leveraging digital technologies, the initiative aims to reduce medical expenses for the general public while comprehensively improving the level of medical services. All departments and levels across the city must promote this work with full commitment from a political perspective, ensuring it is managed effectively, implemented solidly, and yields tangible results.

Located in northern Fujian Province at the junction of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces, Nanping is commonly known as “Northern Fujian” and has a total population exceeding 3.21 million. In recent years, through the advancement of various healthcare reform initiatives, Nanping has achieved certain successes in equalizing medical service levels, reforming health insurance payment methods, and improving the governance of public hospitals. However, constrained by its natural environment and developmental foundation, the city’s healthcare sector still faces shortcomings. The promotion of a digital Health Community will significantly improve the development of healthcare in Nanping, bringing new breakthroughs to its healthcare reforms.

As is well known, the Sanming healthcare reform took centralized drug procurement as its entry point and, through the coordinated reform of medical services, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance (the “Three Medicals” linkage), developed a set of effective reform experiences. By reforming the drug procurement mechanism, the Sanming healthcare reform saved a cumulative total of RMB 7.3 billion in drug and consumable costs over seven years, earning high recognition from the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. As an advisor to the Nanping Municipal Government, Director Zhan Jifu pointed out that, with the encouragement of national policies, the government’s determination to lead reforms, and mature digital technology platforms, the Nanping Health Community reform possesses ample conditions to surpass the achievements of the Sanming healthcare reform.

“The establishment of the Nanping Healthcare Community will comprehensively elevate the level of primary healthcare services in Nanping, truly establishing a health maintenance system for the public. It will significantly reduce the prices of pharmaceuticals and medical consumables while substantially increasing the transparent income of medical personnel,” pointed out Liao Jieyuan. He further noted that the implementation of the Healthcare Community will also attract upstream and downstream industrial chains to cluster in Nanping, jointly exploring the “Nanping Model” of digital health.

On that day, the principal officials of the Nanping Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, the Organization Department, the Publicity Department, and the Political and Legal Affairs Commission each delivered statements on safeguarding and advancing the construction of the “Health Community” project. Attendees included the principal leaders of the city’s four major leadership bodies; the President of the Municipal Intermediate People’s Court and the Chief Procurator of the Municipal People’s Procuratorate; heads of municipal departments at or above the deputy division level, as well as those of central and provincial agencies stationed in Yanping District; members of the leadership teams of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, the Organization Department, the Justice Bureau, the Health Commission, and the Healthcare Security Administration; leaders of municipal medical institutions; secretaries of county (city, district) party committees, secretaries of discipline inspection commissions, heads of organization departments, publicity departments, and political and legal affairs commissions, officials in charge of healthcare reform, presidents of courts and procuratorates, and heads of public security bureaus, justice bureaus, health commissions, and healthcare security administrations in each county (city, district), along with members of the leadership teams of county-level medical institutions; and principal heads of township health centers and community health service centers, totaling nearly 1,000 participants.

Micro Medical Group has connected more than 2,700 hospitals and over 290,000 doctors across China. It has helped multiple cities, including Pingdingshan, Tai’an, Yinchuan, Xiamen, and Longyan, build digital health communities, earning recognition from government authorities at all levels.