National Health Commission Releases New Regulations on Electronic Medical Record Evaluation: All Secondary and Above Hospitals Required to Participate
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on December 7, 2018, the official website of the Medical Administration and Hospital Management Bureau under the National Health Commission released the “Notice on Issuing the Administrative Measures for the Graded Evaluation of Electronic Medical Record System Application Levels (Trial) and the Evaluation Standards (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”).
To implement the “Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Development of ‘Internet + Medical Health’” (Guo Ban Fa [2018] No. 26) and the National Health Commission’s “Notice on Further Advancing the Construction of Information Systems in Medical Institutions with Electronic Medical Records at the Core” (Guo Wei Ban Yi Fa [2018] No. 20), and to continuously promote the development of information systems in medical institutions centered on electronic medical records, the National Health Commission has organized the formulation of the “Administrative Measures for the Graded Evaluation of Electronic Medical Record System Application Levels (Trial)” and the “Evaluation Standards for the Graded Application Levels of Electronic Medical Record Systems (Trial).”
In accordance with the requirements of the Notice, local health administrative departments at all levels shall intensify their efforts to organize relevant medical institutions within their jurisdictions to continuously advance the informatization of electronic medical records (EMR), thereby enhancing the level of informatization in medical service delivery and management. Furthermore, the National Health Commission will issue annual bulletins on the graded evaluation of EMR application levels, with the Hospital Management Institute of the National Health Commission undertaking the specific related tasks.
The "Notice" requires local health administrative departments at all levels to organize hospitals at Level II and above within their jurisdictions to participate in the graded evaluation of electronic medical record (EMR) system functional application on schedule, and specifies two key timelines:
By 2019, all tertiary hospitals must achieve a level of 3 or higher in the tiered evaluation.
By 2020, all tertiary hospitals must achieve a level of Grade 4 or higher in the hierarchical evaluation, while secondary hospitals must reach Grade 3 or higher.
"Administrative Measures for the Graded Evaluation of Electronic Medical Record System Application Levels (Trial)"
“Administrative Measures for the Graded Evaluation of Electronic Medical Record System Application Levels (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Administrative Measures”) consists of fifteen detailed provisions.
The "Administrative Measures" outline the scope of application, organizational work for tiered evaluation, and principles of tiered evaluation. The "Administrative Measures" emphasize:
All hospitals at Level II and above must participate in the tiered evaluation work on schedule.
The authority to review classifications at Level 4 and below may be delegated to municipal-level health administrative departments.
Medical institutions rated at Level 5 or above may directly apply for a higher level based on their current accreditation.
Regarding timeliness, the evaluation cycle is set at one year. Medical institutions that have not participated in the evaluation for more than two years must first undergo re-evaluation at their current level before applying for a higher-level evaluation.
"Grading and Evaluation Standards for the Application Level of Electronic Medical Record Systems (Trial)"
The “Grading Evaluation Standards for the Application Level of Electronic Medical Record Systems (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Standards”) clearly states that the purpose of the evaluation is:
To establish an evaluation and continuous improvement system for the application level of electronic medical record systems that is suited to China’s national conditions;
To provide guidance for the scientific, rational, and orderly development of electronic medical record (EMR) systems in healthcare institutions;
We aim to guide EMR system developers toward building systems that are more practical, interoperable, and intelligent.
"The Standard" classifies the application levels of electronic medical record systems into nine tiers.
Level 0: No electronic medical record system has been established.
Level 1: Establishment of independent medical information systems.
Level 2: Internal exchange within the medical information department.
Level 3: Inter-departmental Data Exchange.
Level 4: Hospital-wide information sharing and basic clinical decision support.
Level 5: Unified Data Management, Intermediate Clinical Decision Support.
Level 6: Closed-loop management of medical data across the entire process, with advanced clinical decision support.
Level 7: Medical Safety and Quality Control, Regional Medical Information Sharing.
Level 8: Integration of health information and continuous improvement in medical safety and quality.
For more details, please refer to the original official policy: