China plans to accelerate the establishment of a tiered healthcare delivery system, focusing on strengthening primary-level medical capacity to manage common and chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, according to a document released on Thursday by the General Office of the State Council.

The document aims to meet public demand for more convenient, accessible and high-quality medical diagnosis and treatment.

It calls for the development of closely integrated medical consortia linking top-tier hospitals with grassroots clinics. Efforts will be made to ensure every neighborhood has access to a nearby health clinic. Secondary hospitals are expected to enhance their capacity to treat common diseases and serve as a bridge between community clinics and tertiary hospitals, which will focus on acute and complex conditions.

National and provincial medical centers will target diseases with high regional mortality rates and high outbound referral rates, aiming to improve overall treatment capacity and reduce cross-regional patient visits.

Major hospitals are also required to establish clinics for common and chronic diseases — including high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — at grassroots medical centers, and to regularly dispatch specialists to work there.

More medical professionals will be sent to the grassroots level, and additional mobile medical teams will be deployed to underserved regions, the document said.

It also calls for streamlining referral procedures between different tiers of hospitals and improving insurance reimbursement policies.

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