An ophthalmologist teaches children how to take care of eyes in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account huzhoufabu]

Huzhou has been playing a leading role in the comprehensive reform of public hospitals in East China's Zhejiang province.

The city was ranked first in this regard in a provincial evaluation in 2021, the fourth consecutive year it won the honor, according to the Zhejiang provincial healthcare commission.

It is also the first city in Zhejiang to have all administrative areas rated as "excellent" in the appraisal.

In 2021, the average emergency treatment and in-patient costs in public hospitals in Huzhou were 7.4 percent and 22.4 percent lower than the provincial averages respectively. The satisfaction of out-patients and in-patients in public hospitals was 95.1 and 96.2 respectively. 

The local government has been continuously reducing the price of medical supplies and expanding the coverage of local medical care insurance system to relieve the financial burdens on patients.

To date, more than 99.8 percent of the city's registered population has been enrolled in the basic medical insurance system.

Huzhou is also the first city in Zhejiang to achieve an interconnectivity of public medical institutions from provincial to community (village) levels.

The mutual recognition and sharing of medical examination results of 80 percent of high-frequency clinical examination items at these hospitals has saved patients more than 16 million yuan ($2.46 million) to date.

A head official from the Huzhou municipal healthcare commission said that Huzhou is now striving to become a national test bed for the reform of the medical and health care systems.