Nationally, this year is the first year to push forward the reform of C-DRG (Chinese Diagnosis Related Groups) pricing and payment. The kick-off meeting for DRG pricing and payment reform pilot was held in Shenzhen, China by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China. The meeting decided to carry out the DRG pilot work in a total of 36 medical institutions in Sanming, Shenzhen, Karamay city and Fujian province (three hospitals). How to set up DRG pricing and payment system suitable for our institutional advantage becomes the focus of the industry.

In order to better exchange the experience at home and abroad and promote the national DRG pricing and payment pilot reform work, the China National Health Development Research Center of NHFPC initiated and organized the China DRG Pricing and Payment Congress on September 14-15, 2017.

Ma Xiaowei, Deputy Director of National Health and Family Planning Commission

On September 14, Ma Xiaowei, deputy director of National Health and Family Planning Commission said on the congress that medical insurance pricing and payment reform is an important task of the health reform stipulated in “the 13th Five Year Plan” and that we should focus on the leverage of the reform in the health reform and try to promote the pricing and payment reform of the whole health care system including outpatient services, hospitalization and communities. At the national level, we should do well in the top-down design and take our first pilot to point to an area of work in order to gradually put forward the reform and expand the coverage.

In the process of deepening health reform, payment system reform has always been the key and difficult points. Practical experience at home and abroad shows that DRG pricing and payment system has played a positive role in controlling the unreasonable growth of medical expense and promoting the medical institutions to reduce cost and improve the quality of medical services.

Fu Wei, Director of the China National Health Development Research Center of NHFPC

According to Fu Wei, director of the China National Health Development Research Center, our country has launched a series of policies related to the reform of the healthcare payment system since 2015. In June this year, the kick-off meeting for DRG pricing and payment reform pilot was held in Shenzhen, China by the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The meeting decided to carry out the DRG reform pilot work in a total of 36 medical institutions in Sanming, Shenzhen, Karamay city and Fujian province (three hospitals).

Zu Guoying, deputy inspector of the Social Security Division of the Ministry of Finance, said that the DRG payment reform will be fully pushed out in China. The Ministry of Finance will actively participate in formulating relevant policies, summarize typical regional experiences, and promote the establishment of a multi-payment mechanism based on DRG payment for hospitalization.

Leaders from the Institutional Reform Division, the Finance Division, and the Medical Affairs and Services Division of National Health and Family Planning Commission and the National Health Development Research Center made a comprehensive and detailed interpretation of the system construction, implementation progress, strategic thinking, design thinking and other aspects of C-DRG.

China DRG Pricing and Payment Congress was directed by the Institutional Reform Division, the Finance Division, and the Medical Affairs and Services Division of National Health and Family Planning Commission, sponsored by the National Health Development Research Center and organized by the Health Services Cost and Price Committee of China Health Economics Association and the China International Conference Center for Science and Technology (CICCST). International experts from the US, Australia, Germany, France, Denmark and other countries have made keynote speeches on the experience of DRG implementation as well as the suggestions on China. On the same day, the National Health Development Research Center was acknowledged as “WTO China Classification Terminology and Standards Cooperation Center” by the WTO, and the opening ceremony was held as witnessed by more than 2,000 guests and listeners.

The representatives of China Association for Medical Devices Industry attended the congress.