Coping with COVID: Performance of China's hierarchical medical system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the health system worldwide. This study aimed to assess how China's hierarchical medical system (HMS) coped with COVID-19 in the short-and medium-term. We mainly measured the number and distribution of hospital visits and healthcare expenditure between primary and high-level hospitals during Beijing's 2020-2021 pandemic relative to the 2017-2019 pre-COVID-19 benchmark period.

Methods

Hospital operational data were extracted from Municipal Health Statistics Information Platform. The COVID-19 period in Beijing was divided into five phases, corresponding to different characteristics, from January 2020 to October 2021. The main outcome measures in this study include the percentage change in inpatient and outpatient emergency visits,

SUBMITTER: Yang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10173579 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature