(Yicai Global) Jan. 10 -- The coverage of the 'sign on with a family doctor' service has been steadily expanding in Shanghai, China's most developed city, since its 2011 inception. 

Some 6.66 million permanent residents of the city -- almost one-third -- have registered for the program thus far, the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission announced at a press briefing yesterday.

A '1+1+1' combination of medical institutions perform the service, per which residents sign contracts with a family doctor working at a community health service center, a district hospital and a city hospital at the same time.

More than 84 percent hypertensive and diabetic patients have signed these agreements, and over 70 percent of disabled persons and families without a child have also done so.

Shanghai has formulated a strict and comprehensive evaluation system for contract-signing service fees, which includes contracted factoring residents' health management effects, efficiency of diagnosis and medical institutional transfers, and reasonable expense management into the assessment indexes to boost the service's vitality via these mechanisms, said Wu Qianyu, deputy director of the SMHC.

"Based on the national standard of each family doctor serving 2,000 contracted residents, about 3,000 more general practitioners are needed in Shanghai. All contracted residents' medical demands can be met under the existing coverage, however, Wu said.

"Ever more people will gain access to a family doctor in future," she added. 

Shanghai has led in the country in building community health service centers affiliated to medical colleges. 

The medical schools of Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, Shanghai University of Traditional Medicine and other well-known local higher medical education institutions have set up their own affiliated community health centers to improve doctors' treatment abilities.

Editor: Ben Armour