The municipal government of Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province started to implement a city-level requirement for family doctor services on Jan 1, 2020, the first city in the country to do so.

The requirement stipulates basic principles, team building, services and performance evaluation methods, among other things, related to health care services provided by local licensed family doctors.

According to the requirement, a family doctor team should include a general practitioner, a specialist physician and a nurse and can include pharmacists, psychological consultants and dieticians if needed.

"The requirement has far-reaching significance in standardizing the process and improving the quality of family doctor services and is expected to help build the city into a demonstration area for health care," said Hu Xiaojun, deputy director of the city's municipal health commission.

An online platform for such services opened to the public during a news conference in Huzhou on Dec 31, 2019. Citizens can register accounts, sign agreements with licensed family doctors and purchase health care services on the platform.

The platform is connected to health care information systems in the city, including health records and prophylactic vaccination, sanitary control and health insurance systems.