China to Enhance Medical Services Through Mutual Recognition of Clinical Examination Results

China's top health authorities are accelerating the mutual recognition of clinical examination results between medical institutions to improve medical services and patient experience.

The National Health Commission's guideline aims to incentivize and supervise the mutual recognition of over 300 clinical test results within provinces by 2027 and across regions by 2030.

Jiao Yahui, director of the medical administration department, highlighted the importance of clinical tests in boosting resource utilization, controlling costs, and upgrading medical services.

Currently, 24 provinces have implemented programs for sharing clinical test results within their provinces, with Beijing, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang leading the way. Cross-provincial sharing is also underway, with over 1,100 institutions in four provinces participating.

Quality and standardization are crucial for mutual recognition. Beijing has implemented a quality control network and standards to ensure consistency across institutions.

Building online platforms for sharing clinical test results is a key step. Many places are working to digitalize medical services and improve connectivity.

In Beijing, most tertiary hospitals can access patients' clinical test results online, with the system automatically reminding doctors of mutually recognized items and allowing them to retrieve patients' recent examination results from other institutions.

Jiao Yahui acknowledged that situations may arise where test results cannot be recognized due to factors such as patients' physiology, disease progression, and discrepancies in testing equipment and reagents. In such cases, medical workers should communicate clearly with patients and seek their understanding.