Though the Chinese government has made heart patient care a priority in the past decade having initiated extensive healthcare reforms in the country, a study, a collaboration among researchers in China and America has identified many areas for improvement.

The researchers analysed more than 10,000 heart failure hospitalisations from 2015 at a diverse group of 189 hospitals in China. The study focussed on how caregivers handled core aspects of heart failure care including assessment, prescription of standard medications for eligible patients upon discharge and the scheduling of follow-up appointments.

The study said the median composite percentage of performance of the expected tasks, across all hospitals, was a mere 40%. It was observed that urban hospitals in China performed better than rural hospitals, and hospitals in the eastern region of China performed better than western region.