• 2024-09-11
• News

Healthcare Price Reform Promises a Win-Win for All Parties

Recently, the National Healthcare Security Administration has publicly released guidelines for the establishment of 17 medical service price items, covering areas such as assisted reproduction, nursing, radiotherapy, and rehabilitation, which have attracted widespread social attention.

Medical service price items, commonly known as "consultation fees," "nursing fees," "surgery fees," and various examination and testing fees, are crucial as their standardization, transparency, and reasonableness directly affect the medical burden on patients, healthcare fund expenditures, and the long-term development of the medical industry.

According to the latest information released by the National Healthcare Security Administration, in the future, the prices for high technical labor value medical services such as special and first-class nursing may increase, while the prices for some high-volume and high-priced examination and testing items, as well as radiologic examination services, are expected to be reasonably reduced.

The National Healthcare Security Administration, as the largest payer for drugs and medical devices in China, has a significant impact on the medical market. In response to the ongoing reform of medical service prices, some investors are concerned about whether large-scale medical equipment will be included in centralized procurement and price reduction, and whether it will affect the performance and development expectations of related listed companies.

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The author believes that to discuss this issue, one should first recognize the original intention, main tasks, and current market situation of China's medical service price reform.

For a long time, there have been many irrational aspects in China's medical service prices, such as the low prices for some medical services with high technical labor value, and the high prices for some large equipment examination and treatment, as well as laboratory projects. This is because in the past, the market for large equipment examinations in China was mostly occupied by a few manufacturers, and the pricing power was firmly controlled by a few manufacturers. The proportion of equipment depreciation costs in project prices reached 30% to 50%, which also became the main reason for the high pricing of medical institutions.

Squeezing out the unreasonable water in the prices of drugs and consumables, and reasonably increasing the technical value of medical labor, has always been the direction of policy reform. Gradually straighten out the comparative price relationship of medical services; focus on increasing the prices of medical services that reflect the technical labor value of medical personnel, such as diagnosis and treatment, surgery, rehabilitation, nursing, and traditional Chinese medicine, and reduce the prices of large medical equipment examination and treatment, and testing.

In addition, changes in the market competition environment have gradually provided space for the reform of medical service prices. For example, in recent years, as more companies have entered the medical equipment field, the overall R&D level of China's examination equipment has improved, and market competition has become more sufficient. The procurement price naturally shows a downward trend, paving the way for the return of examination prices.

The market should also see that the introduction of medical service price item establishment guidelines, and the gradual increase in the coverage of disciplines, it is conducive to the standardization and unification of medical service prices across the country, which is also beneficial to the healthy development and competitiveness of the industry.

On the one hand, the standardization and unification of medical service prices help to clarify the expectations of all parties. For a long time, China's medical service prices have been managed by provinces, with local pharmaceutical price authorities setting price items and determining price levels. There is a big difference in the number and connotation of price items between regions, and the granularity is also very different.

The implementation of the medical service price item establishment guidelines not only allows patients to clearly understand the costs of various services but also provides medical institutions with a clearer "operation manual" when providing services. At the same time, it also allows companies to better understand policy trends make better market judgments, and determine development directions.

On the other hand, the medical service price item establishment guidelines support the development of new technologies and new projects. When interpreting policies, the National Healthcare Security Administration specifically mentioned the attention to high-tech diagnostic and treatment projects, such as the establishment of new price items for proton radiotherapy, heavy ion radiotherapy, and boron-neutron capture therapy. These high-end medical equipment can be charged according to new price items after entering the clinic. This policy that encourages innovation and technological upgrading will accelerate the clinical transformation of cutting-edge technologies and promote the emergence of major innovative projects that fill the gaps in diagnosis and treatment. In the long run, it will stimulate new market demands.

It is necessary to have a long-term perspective. Changes in medical service prices may bring certain challenges and uncertainties in the short term, but it is also important to see that policy adjustments will also bring new market opportunities. For listed companies, it is necessary to closely monitor policy dynamics and market changes, and timely adjust investment strategies and business models to adapt to the new market environment. Against the background of medical service price reform, technological innovation and service quality will become key factors for listed companies to obtain market share and profitability. Listed companies need to increase investment in technological innovation and service quality to meet people's growing health needs and build strong market competitiveness.

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