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Overview of Healthcare System in China

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Abstract

China is a large country with population of 1.38 billion. Before 1949, China’s healthcare condition was poor and improved a lot from 1949 to 1978 through essential free public healthcare and disease prevention and eradication of infectious disease. After economy reform occurring in China for the past almost 40 years, Chinese healthcare reform went through several different stages and achieved great success although challenges remain. Through several health insurance scheme reforms, the Chinese government has been able to cover 95% of the population with basic health insurance. Western medicine is dominated in China although traditional Chinese medicine still plays some important role in the Chinese healthcare system. Management of healthcare quality was emphasized not only by government but also by individual hospitals and various departments inside hospitals. Thirty-six state-level and 1200 regional-level medical practice quality control centers were established recently in China. The history of spinal care quality assessment in China is short, but quality metrics are important for practicing orthopedic surgeons.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jackson Hospitalist Program, Jackson Hospital, Montgomery, AL, USA

    Xiongying Chen

  2. Anesthesiology, Preoperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA

    Xiang Qian

Authors
  1. Xiongying Chen
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  2. Xiang Qian
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    John Ratliff

  2. Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA

    Todd J. Albert

  3. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Joseph Cheng

  4. Atlantic Neurosurgical Specialists, Morristown, NJ, USA

    Jack Knightly

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Chen, X., Qian, X. (2019). Overview of Healthcare System in China. In: Ratliff, J., Albert, T., Cheng, J., Knightly, J. (eds) Quality Spine Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97990-8_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97990-8_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97989-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97990-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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