In 2025, Zhongshan County in Guangxi delivered impressive results in its healthcare consortium construction: From January to October, the county achieved a reduction of 11.79 million yuan in medical consumable costs, a 2.21% drop in average patient expenses, a 5.69% decrease in medical insurance fund expenditures, and a 5.51% decline in debt ratios at grassroots branches. Meanwhile, grassroots diagnosis and treatment rates rose to 61.24%, county-level medical visits exceeded 90.55%, tertiary and quaternary surgeries at county hospitals increased by 7.13%, and public satisfaction reached 96.18%. This "four declines and four rises" outcome earned Zhongshan’s healthcare reform model recognition as a national pilot by the Disease Control Bureau and was promoted across the region.
To address the challenges of "fragmented resources and weak coordination" in grassroots healthcare, Zhongshan County implemented a comprehensive strategy focusing on "unified management, resources, and diagnosis and treatment."
**Management Reform**: The county established an innovative "1+3+12+N" organizational system—comprising one central hospital, three secondary leading units, 12 township branches, and 115 village clinics. It also set up an administrative office and five centers (e.g., human resources) to enforce "eight unified standards" for personnel, finances, and assets, dismantling the silos among county, township, and village medical institutions.
**Resource Integration**: Ten shared centers—including medical imaging and ECG diagnostics—were built, supported by a unified information platform enabling "grassroots testing, county-level diagnosis, and mutual recognition of results."
**Diagnosis & Treatment Optimization**: Clear functional roles were defined for county, township, and village levels, with service lists and two-way referral standards established. Upward referrals grew by 105%, downward referrals by 167%, and green channels streamlined acute-chronic care separation.
**Key Reforms for Sustainability**: - **Personnel & Pay**: The central hospital gained autonomy in assessments, appointments, and recruitment, breaking institutional barriers. County-level experts were assigned as branch directors while retaining original benefits. Performance-based pay rose by an average of 347 yuan monthly in 2025. - **Medical Insurance**: A "bundled payment with surplus retention and reasonable cost-sharing" model unified financial management. County insurance settlements rose 4.4%, yet fund spending fell 5.69%, with branch administrative costs dropping over 40%. - **Pharmaceuticals & Consumables**: The county pioneered "four unifications" (catalog, pricing, procurement, delivery), slashing suppliers to 75 and cutting prices for 57.49% of items. A central pharmacy and prescription review center intercepted 412 risky prescriptions, ensuring medication safety.
**Holistic Health Services**: Zhongshan integrated disease prevention into the consortium, creating a "CDC guidance + hospital support + grassroots linkage" mechanism that reduced infectious disease reporting time from 7.55 to 2.55 hours. A county health management center introduced "multi-approach single-disease" protocols, standardizing care for 23,000+ chronic patients and lowering premature mortality for four major chronic diseases by 6.2%. Family doctor coverage surpassed national standards by 20 percentage points, delivering warmer care.
From "fragmented care" to "unified strategy," and from "treating illness" to "preventing disease," Zhongshan’s "three unifications, three reforms, three services" model has made "village-level minor care, county-level major care, affordable treatment, and managed health" a tangible reality. Today, in Guangxi’s rural heartlands, the simple wish for "good care close to home" has become a dependable pillar of wellbeing.
Comments