(Yicai Global) Feb. 28 -- The results of tests taken at different medical institutions in China will be mutually recognized and shared nationwide or at the regional level starting from tomorrow.

The move follows measures jointly issued by four government agencies, including the National Health Commission and the National Healthcare Security Administration, with the aim of easing the burden on patients and ensuring the quality and safety of healthcare.

It will encourage hospitals to scale back on excessive testing and mutually recognize and share results, leading to an electronic medical records system and better treatment for patients, Liao Cangyi, associate professor of public administration at China University of Political Science and Law told Yicai Global.

The new healthcare information platform will also allow new payment methods, Liao said.

The measures announced on Feb. 18 clarify how medical institutions can recognize and share test results and standards and spell out the supervision and management responsibilities of various departments. Images and data from tests, imaging, and diagnosis can be shared, but not any prognosis.

Special attention needs to be paid on how to ensure the quality and safety of test results, and how to motivate medical institutions and their staff to implement mutual recognition policies, Liao pointed out.

“Whether the test results can be mutually recognized must be judged by the receiving physician,” said Xu Yucai, deputy director of the Shanyang county health bureau in Shaanxi province and an expert on medical reforms, citing previous disputes over the mutual recognition of results.

The Feb. 18 announcement also said regional medical insurance fund budgets and the budgets of individual medical institutions would not be affected by the mutual recognition of test results, encouraging medical institutions to include it in performance appraisals.

Editor: Peter Thomas