How can China ensure healthcare for all?

China’s health system has made tremendous advances that have improved the lives of its people. The average lifespan reached an age of 74.8 years in 2010, current infant mortality has almost halved in comparison with 2005 and nearly everyone has health insurance. Still, the country faces a number of challenges that call for the system to evolve further. When China embraces digital innovation, encourages collaboration and further increases public health awareness, its healthcare will become affordable and accessible.

China’s progress over the past few decades has been nothing short of breathtaking. It has become an economic superpower, given birth to amazing mega-cities and has become a hotspot for scientific breakthroughs. But the country’s rapid industrialization comes at a price: some 85% of all deaths in China are caused by chronic diseases common to developed economies, the care of which demands 70% of the nation’s healthcare budget. In addition, the country’s population of 1.3 billion people is ageing rapidly, making it even more urgent to find ways to keep the healthcare industry resilient.

The country has already begun to reform its health system. Health insurance, for example, used to be a privilege of those employed in urban areas. A few years ago, the government launched a basic public health insurance programme, which has begun to increase access to more affordable care. Today, some 95% of Chinese people receive a form of coverage, up from 30% in 2003.

However, getting health care affordable may not always mean health care is available. China’s rural population has access to fewer and less well-trained doctors, because medical resources are being concentrated in the cities, which are expected to house 70% of the population by 2030. Unless rural areas are given better access to healthcare, the quality of life in the countryside will not keep pace with advances in the cities. Fortunately, several initiatives are under way to remedy this situation and various healthcare providers are already joining forces. From 2011 to 2013, for example, more than 2,000 radiologists were trained in collaboration with the China Medical Doctor Association in remote areas of western China on imaging technologies, diagnosis and analysis of common diseases.

The digital dividend
Technology and innovation will complement changes in government policy. The rise in connected digital devices, particularly when connected to medical systems and open technology platforms, can transform how doctors work and patients live. The Personal Health Management System, developed in Shanghai by Philips, is an example of this. As a tool for chronic disease management, it enables medical professionals to manage their patients more effectively outside of the hospital (e.g. by monitoring their vital signs and suggesting healthier lifestyle choices) and enables patients’ access to care anytime, anywhere. At the same time, new emerging healthcare service models like “medical consortiums” will catalyse the development of the Regional Health Information Systems (RHINs) platform, which will enhance information sharing and facilitate operations among community health centres, primary hospitals and Level 3 hospitals from an IT perspective in China. Such solutions effectively mitigate the imbalance of healthcare resources in China, increase access while lowering the costs.

These and other innovations will transform the healthcare industry, provided patients, care providers, the government and insurers are open to them. It requires them to adapt to different ways of working, different technologies, new business models and, perhaps most fundamentally, seeing healthcare not as a cost burden, but also as an opportunity to innovate. It also motivates companies and the government to invest in public-private partnerships as a way to encourage systemic innovation.

China’s size requires solutions that are massively scalable, which won’t be created unless the private and public sector work closely together. This means there is also an important role for multinationals. Some of them have been present in China for a long time and operate as local companies that know and serve the population’s needs. Many of them are also trusted and respected brands, which continuously bring innovative healthcare solutions and services with local insights to improve Chinese people’s health and quality of life.

What role for the public?
While technology firms can innovate, the public itself is a crucial partner in the shift to a more effective and sustainable health system. As in other nations, the Chinese are increasingly influenced by globalization and lifestyle changes, with many more people suffering from physical inactivity, poor dietary choices and obesity. That is why it is good to see the government launch the Healthy China 2020 programme, which centres in part on preventing chronic diseases and promoting better lifestyle choices and eating habits.

Much of the programme is media-run and localized, concentrating on change through the community rather than through laws. The results have been encouraging so far. There is also a demonstrable shift taking place in urban areas where citizens exercise more regularly and people make healthier food choices. In addition, citizens are getting more health-savvy through social media and are making more use of personal health technology. All of this gives confidence that China can and will increase the vitality of its health system, led by its own citizen’s aspiration for a healthier future.

Author: Patrick Kung is Chief Executive Officer of Philips, Greater China.

Image: Patients and medical staff walk through a corridor of the Guanganmen Chinese medicine Hospital in Beijing. REUTERS/David Gray