Implementation Status, Problem Analysis, and Policy Recommendations of Hypertension Management in Primary Care in China from the Perspective of Health System Based on Semi-structured Interview

Background Hypertension is a common chronic non-communicable disease affecting the health of the people in China. As an important gateway for hypertension management and control, the management ability of primary care directly affects the management effect. The current status and common rules of hypertension management in primary care in China need to be further explored. Objective To understand the current status of hypertension management in primary care in China, summarize the typical experience, and provide suggestions for the optimization of hypertension management in China. Methods From November to December 2021, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 hypertension management stakeholders in five provinces in China. Guided by the World Health Organization's health system, the interviews were analyzed from six dimensions of leadership and governance, service delivery, health workforce, health financing, access to medicines and equipment, and health information system. Results For leadership and governance, hypertension management in primary care mainly relies on contracted family doctor service, and requires the collaborative management of medical institutions and public health departments. In terms of service provision, general practice and specialty integration services should be provided to meet the individual medical needs of patients. For health workforce, community general practitioners are the main force of hypertension management in primary care, and their work motivation should be improved by performance appraisal and distribution according to their work. For health financing, hypertensive patients can obtain preferential policy support of medical insurance reimbursement at primary care. For medicine accessibility, basic medical equipment and essential hypertension drugs are available in primary care. For health information system, the regional medical and health information platform can realize health information sharing and service coordination among contracted patients. Conclusion Primary health care institutions are responsible for the long-term follow-up and management of hypertension patients. It is necessary to further enhance the capacity of primary health care comprehensive management and primary health service supply, strengthen the capacity building of primary health care personnel, improve the reimbursement and payment system of medical insurance, improve the drug and equipment conditions for hypertension treatment in primary care, and effectively empower hypertension management in primary care through informatization, which can effectively improve hypertension management in primary care.