1, February 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the medical equipment industry fourteen five-year development plan, for the support of the development of surgical robots and other innovative products to make clear instructions to encourage the conditions of the local can try to incorporate such innovative products into the scope of health insurance payments.
2, April 20, 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Medical Insurance will laparoscopic robotic surgery in the name of artificial intelligence-assisted treatment technology into the category B medical insurance, the patient pays 20% out-of-pocket, the scope of reimbursement of medical insurance, including radical prostate cancer, partial nephrectomy, total uterine excision, and the radical treatment of rectal cancer.
3. On October 23, 2021, robot-assisted orthopedic surgery entered Beijing's Class A Medicare payment catalog (100% reimbursable), and disposable robotic-specific instruments received Beijing's Class B Medicare payment (partially reimbursable). The relevant payments were divided into two parts, one for the use of the robot, fixed at 8,000 yuan, which can be fully paid for using the medical insurance; the other for the cost of supporting consumables, which can be partially reimbursed.
4. On September 23, 2022, the official website of Hunan Provincial Health Insurance Bureau issued the Notice on Regulating the Use and Charging Behavior of Surgical Robot-Assisted Operating System, which clarifies the definition of surgical robots, the charging method and pricing. This is the first time the country issued a provincial-level document on regulating the use of surgical robot-assisted operating systems, clarifying the charges for medical services as well as the health insurance payment policy, covering a wide range of departments such as orthopedics, head and neck surgery, thoracic surgery, cardiac surgery and so on.
Surgical robots do most of the more difficult, more complex process of surgery, so the technical threshold is higher. Continuous investment in research and development and a long research and development cycle, resulting in the development of surgical robots is a high investment and low return work. And the domestic surgical robot market started late, had to face a number of international giants pincer attack, but despite this, domestic surgical robots are still struggling to make an attempt.