Yan Xijun: Breaking Interest Chains and Enhancing Talent Mobility to Realize Tiered Medical Services

Yan Xijun, a deputy to the National People’s Congress and Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Board of Tasly Holding Group Co., Ltd., participated in Xinhua Net’s special interview series for the 2016 “Two Sessions” on March 4, focusing on tiered diagnosis and treatment as well as traditional Chinese medicine. VCBeat has compiled this summary based on the Xinhua Net interview.

“Tiered diagnosis and treatment” has always been one of the key priorities in healthcare reform, yet its results have not been significant. “The failure to break the chain of interests and the impediments to the mobility of medical professionals have made it difficult to implement ‘tiered diagnosis and treatment’,” said Yan Xijun. “I recommend improving the structure through the central government’s ‘supply-side’ strategy to truly realize ‘tiered diagnosis and treatment’.”

Yan Xijun stated that to effectively implement "tiered diagnosis and treatment," it is essential to dismantle vested interest circles and break the chains of vested interests, thereby enhancing the mobility of medical professionals. Meanwhile, scientific planning should be carried out to provide diverse categories of services based on patient needs, liberate physicians' productivity, and facilitate multi-site practice for doctors. However, healthcare institutions remain currently centered on medical services, and the chains of vested interests still persist.

Establish an Ecological Healthcare Model Integrating “Medical Care, Elderly Care, and Health Management”

Yan Xijun stated that current policies, methodologies, and healthcare institutions are all designed around “disease,” with everyone’s focus centered on “disease.” The core issue lies in the reliance on a purely biomedical model. Addressing “disease” solely through this biomedical lens leads to an ever-increasing number of diagnoses and increasingly complex treatments. Therefore, it is essential to establish an ecological medical model that integrates the biomedical model, environmental medicine, and psychological well-being approaches. By combining medical treatment, health maintenance, and disease management, patients can receive more comprehensive care.

“Furthermore, hospitals should establish a tiered medical care and triage treatment system. For critical illnesses, life signs should be stabilized through emergency treatment, followed by rehabilitation stratified according to severity levels,” pointed out Yan Xijun. “During the treatment of major medical conditions, it is crucial to seize the optimal timing for professional and precision rehabilitation, achieving a seamless transition from disease treatment to recovery. In addition, attention should be paid to home-based health and wellness, ensuring effective management of patients during both the acute phase and the post-illness recovery period. Through quantitative, scientific, and systematic management, the general public can effectively monitor and manage their own health status.”

Establishing a Traceability System to Promote Drug Safety

“To enhance drug quality, a drug traceability system should be established with clear individual accountability, ensuring that the origins of drugs are traceable,” stated Yan Xijun. “Third-party testing and a whole-industry-chain traceability system should be implemented first for drugs listed in the National Essential Medicines List and the National Reimbursement Drug List, with the aim of comprehensively improving drug quality within three to five years.”

Yan Xijun stated that by implementing seed cultivation, intensive distribution, processing, and full-process traceability, it is possible to achieve source traceability, process control, and quality evaluation. By establishing standardized logistics, financial services, and management systems, a new business model and quality control system for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) materials can be constructed, thereby enhancing drug quality. Meanwhile, for TCM decoction pieces and instant granules, among other products, a traceability system should also be established from the perspectives of administrative regulation and legislation.

Furthermore, Yan Xijun pointed out that farmers should also be trained in new agricultural planting methods. By leveraging internet technology to establish digitalized farm operations, traditional agricultural practices can be transformed to enable full-process traceability.

Taking Traditional Chinese Medicine Global Through the Integration of New Technologies

Yan Xijun stated that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Chinese herbal medicine represent the roots and the soul of the Chinese nation. At present, we should leverage technological innovation and cutting-edge technologies to continuously improve traditional diagnostic and therapeutic methods, and approach the development of TCM with a scientific mindset. This will enable TCM to achieve rapid growth, integrate into the global community, and go global.

Source: Xinhua News Agency; Reporter: You Suhang