Four national departments jointly issued a document, stating that these examinations in hospitals will no longer need to be repeated!

Four national departments jointly issued a document stating that starting from March 1, the results of multiple medical examinations will be mutually recognized! Let's see which ones don't need to be repeated>>>

Compiled by New Media Editor Li Yunfeng

When seeing a doctor, patients often encounter such a situation: they have already done the examination, but when they go to another hospital for treatment, they need to do the previous examination again. Many people think that this is a waste of money and time. The examination results between medical institutions are not recognized by each other, and patients often need to repeat the examination. According to the "Status and Countermeasures Analysis of Repeated Medical Examinations of Imaging" published by "China Public Health" in 2018, the incidence of repeated medical examinations of imaging is 41.82%.

In order to further improve the utilization rate of medical resources, reduce the burden of medical treatment for the people, and ensure the quality and safety of medical care, the National Health Commission, the National Medical Insurance Administration, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the Health Bureau of the Logistics Support Department of the Central Military Commission issued the "Management Measures for the Mutual Recognition of Inspection and Test Results of Medical Institutions" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") on February 14. It stipulates that medical institutions should carry out the mutual recognition of inspection and test results in accordance with the principle of "taking quality and safety as the bottom line, quality control as the premise, reducing the burden on patients as the guide, meeting the diagnosis and treatment needs as the foundation, and the judgment of the attending physician as the standard". The Measures will come into effect on March 1, 2022.

(Photo source: Official website of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China)

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What is mutual recognition of inspection results?

Mutual recognition of inspection results means that inspection or test results can be mutually recognized across the country, or between provincial hospitals or municipal hospitals, without the need for re-inspection.

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What are the benefits of mutual recognition of inspection and testing results?

Regarding this issue, Wang Guiqi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Endoscopy Department of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said that the implementation of this new regulation has two main benefits. First, from the perspective of the government and medical institutions, it can save resources and reduce waste; second, for patients, it reduces the time for diagnosis and treatment of patients, and also reduces the patient's expenses. Take CT for example, this simple examination can be completely solved in the community and at the grassroots level. The examination results can be taken to large medical institutions, and then some necessary examinations can be performed on this basis. This has a very positive significance in terms of time, cost, and effect.

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Which tests have mutually recognized results?

So can all examinations achieve mutual recognition of results? Not really. The examination results mentioned in the Measures refer to the images or data information obtained by examining the human body through ultrasound, X-ray, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, electrophysiology, nuclear medicine and other means; the so-called test results refer to the data information obtained by conducting biological, microbiological, immunological, chemical, hematoimmunological, hematological, biophysical, cytological and other tests on materials from the human body. The examination and test results do not include the diagnosis conclusion issued by the physician.

▲Doctor looking at CT scan. (Photo source: Health Times, photo by Bao Jie)

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Under what circumstances can mutual recognition of results be achieved?

The inspection and testing items to be subject to mutual recognition should have good stability and unified technical standards to facilitate quality evaluation.

Wang Guiqi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Endoscopy Department of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, explained that some simple laboratory tests, such as blood routine and urine routine, are relatively easy to control in terms of quality and are also relatively easy to implement.

Zhou Xinhua, deputy chief technician at the No. 9 People's Hospital of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, explained in an interview with a reporter from Henan Metropolitan Channel that those items that are not closely related to the diagnosis of the patient's condition and are relatively stable can be mutually recognized. For example, total protein and albumin will not change much in the short term. If you have done it in one hospital recently, there is no need to repeat it in other hospitals.

For inspection and testing projects that meet national quality evaluation indicators and pass national quality evaluation, the scope of mutual recognition is nationwide. For inspection and testing projects that meet local quality evaluation indicators and pass local quality control organization quality evaluation, the scope of mutual recognition is the region corresponding to the quality control organization. If different regions sign an agreement to jointly carry out mutual recognition of inspections and tests, the health and health administrative departments of the relevant regions shall jointly establish or designate quality control organizations to carry out relevant work. For those who participate in relevant quality evaluations and pass them, the scope of mutual recognition is the agreed region.

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In what cases is a re-inspection necessary?

Since not all examination results are mutually recognized, under what circumstances do we need to re-examine? The Measures clearly stipulate that medical institutions and their medical staff can re-examine relevant items:

(1) Due to changes in the patient's condition, the test results are inconsistent with the patient's clinical manifestations and disease diagnosis, making it difficult to meet the clinical diagnosis and treatment needs;

(2) The examination and test results change rapidly during the development and evolution of the disease;

(3) The inspection and testing items are of great significance to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases (such as before major medical measures such as surgery and blood transfusion);

(IV) The patient is in an emergency or first aid situation;

(5) Appraisals involving judicial, disability, and medical retirement;

(6) Other circumstances where a review is indeed necessary.

The Measures require that medical institutions and their medical personnel should strengthen doctor-patient communication, and if inspection and testing items are not mutually recognized, they should provide good explanations and fully inform the purpose and necessity of re-examination.

Wang Guiqi said that some examination results are more closely related to the technology, capabilities and level of medical institutions, and such examinations are relatively difficult to control in terms of quality. For example, endoscopic examinations are very different from each doctor's training experience, which is not only a problem of missed diagnosis, but also very different in the staging of the disease. At the same time, any examination has a certain timeliness. For example, malignant tumors develop relatively quickly within a certain period of time. If this timeliness is exceeded, there will be certain difficulties in mutual recognition.

Zhou Xinhua explained that some items that change rapidly as the disease progresses, as well as emergency and first aid items, cannot be mutually recognized.

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Are there any obvious signs that inspections and tests can ensure mutual recognition of results?

For the general public, how can we quickly and intuitively identify which specific inspections can be mutually recognized? In response to this issue, the "Measures" clearly state that the mutual recognition mark for medical institution inspection and testing results is unified as HR. If the inspection and testing items participate in the quality evaluation conducted by quality control organizations at all levels and pass, the medical institution shall mark its corresponding mutual recognition scope + mutual recognition mark. For example: "National HR", "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei HR", "Beijing Xicheng District HR", etc. Inspection and testing items that have not participated in the quality evaluation as required or have failed the quality evaluation shall not be marked.

The Measures point out that medical institutions and their medical personnel should recognize each other’s inspection and test results that are marked with the national or regional mutual recognition logo without affecting the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Medical personnel are encouraged to recognize other inspection and test results based on clinical practice without affecting the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

If the existing examination and test results provided by the patient meet the mutual recognition conditions and satisfy the needs of diagnosis and treatment, medical institutions and their medical personnel shall not conduct repeated examinations and tests.

At the same time, medical personnel should issue medical orders for examinations and tests based on the patient's condition. For examination and test items that meet the mutual recognition conditions, relevant fees shall not be charged again in the form of packaging with other items.

(Information compiled from: the official website of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, People's Daily Online, Xinhua News Agency, Health Times, Zhengzhou No. 9 People's Hospital, etc.)

Produced by: Science Central Kitchen

Produced by: Beijing Science and Technology News | Beijing Science and Technology Media

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