The Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China and Dartmouth today jointly announced a plan to support the advancement of health care delivery and services in China, as part of the country’s ambitious program to reform its health care system.

The plan is a core element of a new five-year strategic partnership that aims to serve efforts undertaken by the Ministry of Health to redesign health services and reform medical education. The two institutions will leverage their expertise to help increase health equity, reduce health expenditures, train new health care leadership, and advance the quality of health services across China.

Dr. Minghui Ren, Director-General, of the Department of International Cooperation, in the Ministry of Health, led a seven-person delegation to Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 1 through 4, 2012, to attend discussions hosted by Dartmouth’s Center for Health Care Delivery Science. The Center has recently developed a masters degree program that involves the study of economics, systems engineering, management, and evaluative clinical sciences in a pioneering approach to transforming the quality and efficiency of health care delivery.

Dartmouth’s unique role in developing tools, methods, and models of care that document variation in medical practice, transform the patient experience, and achieve better health outcomes at lower cost has sparked strong resonance among China’s health care leadership.

“We believe that this new partnership with Dartmouth will truly enhance the impact of our health care reform program in China over the next few years. We look forward to working together to find ways of addressing some of the complex problems that health care systems across the world are confronting,” said Dr. Minghui Ren.

Dr. Albert Mulley Jr., director of the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science said: “Historically, China has been an important source of innovative solutions in health care. We are excited about the opportunity to work together on new approaches and practices that can have a major impact on the quality of health services in China. These will also serve to inform health care reform efforts in the United States and many other countries.”

Drs. Ren and Mulley co-chair a steering committee set up to direct the work of the partnership.

The new Ministry of Health-Dartmouth partnership plan is anchored in five areas of work:

• Reform and redesign of health care delivery;
• Advancement of the science of health care delivery in the Chinese context;
• Design of an interdisciplinary health care delivery science curricula to meet China’s needs;
• Reform of medical education and training;
• Provision of educational opportunities to support China’s expansion of its health care leadership.

In the past three years, China has made major strides toward achieving its goal of universal health coverage by 2020. Its reform package includes expanding health insurance to more than 95 percent of the population, increasing access to safe and effective medicines, improving public health and primary health care, and reforming public hospitals.

The delegation visit included a tour of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Hitchcock Clinic, both located in the neighboring town of Lebanon.

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