Research Of Township Hospitals’ Difficulties Under The Background Of The New Rural Cooperative Medical Care System

As the main grassroots medical institutions, township hospitals are responsible for health of people in our wide countryside. There are also some problems in several aspects in operation and developing of township hospitals, and these problems are going complicated in the background of the new rural cooperative medical care system.A careful survey was carried out in five towns in Miluo city, Hunan province. Respondents are include doctors, nurses in township hospitals and residents in these towns. Results of questionnaire survey, interview survey and literature search indicate some main problems of township hospitals as follows:1. About human resource and salary:low medical level, poor salaries, lack of passion on work and study, etc..2. About medical equipment:vacancy, stoppage and loss of some medical equipment for lack of manipulators, rare use, high cost in manipulation, lack of regulation and maintaining, etc..3. About manipulation of the hospitals:less patients, low income, unwilling to see and treat patients because of insufficient financial support, non-full payment of the medical insurance funds, pressure from market competition, the conflicts between doctors and patients, etc., as well as lack of communication and interaction channel between township hospitals and city hospitals.4. About the new rural cooperative medical system:slowly developing of extending hospitalization expenses direct reimbursement and long-distance transaction, high entrance standard of reimbursement set by rules that only hospital patients who expend more than one certain amount can reimburse part of his/her expenses, and medical expenses rising as the new rural cooperative medical system imposed.To help township hospitals to solve above problems, some suggestions are presented as follows:1. guide doctors in city hospitals to give help in township hospitals and encourage graduates from medical college to work in township hospitals.2. Carry out training system of doctors who have professional doctors license.3. Establish and enhance the system of general practitioners.4. Update the performance-related pay system via raising basic wages and enlarging the gap of performance salary.5. Supply door-to-door service.6. Promote Chinese medicine herbal.7. Establish the integrative system of city hospitals and township hospitals, including encouraging technical cooperation among different hospitals and establishing Easy Access between city hospitals and township hospitals.8. Establish national network of the new rural cooperative medical system, and practice smart card system.