Healthcare plan launches in six pilot areas

The Internet + Nursing Services' Pilot Plan will run in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong province from February to December 2019, the National Health Commission announced on Tuesday.

According to the plan, the pilot areas' healthcare administrative departments will be able to determine which medical institutions have obtained Licenses for Medical Practice and have launched services such as home care and itinerant diagnosis.

Relying on the information, institutions can then send registered nurses to provide offline nursing services.

Qualified pilot medical institutions will be encouraged to strengthen the management of nurses through face recognition and other human feature recognition technologies.

Meanwhile a withdrawal mechanism will be established for nurses who violate relevant laws and regulations and have a bad practice record.

The plan also stipulates that registered nurses should have at least five years' clinical experience and the technical title of senior nurse registered in the national electronic nurse registration system.

According to the plan, the services will focus on the elderly or incapacitated elderly, convalescent patients, end-stage patients and other patients with mobility problems.

These patients will be provided with chronic disease management, rehabilitation care, special care, health education, and hospice care.

Before providing offline services, the pilot medical institutions should conduct an initial diagnosis for the applicants to evaluate their diseases, health needs and other conditions.

China's disabled, elderly and empty-nesters are on the rise, leading to a surge in demand for home care services, an official with the National Health Commission said.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China had 240 million people aged 60 or above, accounting for 17.3 percent of the total population, by the end of 2017.

Approximately 150 million elderly people suffer from chronic disease, accounting for 65 percent of the total number of elderly. About 40 million elderly people have a disability or semi-disability.