Can DRG payment under global budget with price adjustment curb the soaring healthcare costs? Insights from China's reform and its underlying mechanism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

This study aims to explore hospital responses to incentives under the China Healthcare Security Diagnosis-Related Group (CHS-DRG) system, the first nationwide DRG-based bundled payment initiative in China, which is designed to stimulate the integration of health services and then contain the medical expenditure inflation.

Methods

Zooming in all insured cases during November 2021 to September 2022, we assessed the impacts of CHS-DRG program under the regional global budget with price adjustment in Tianjin, China upon costs and its underlying mechanism through a difference-in-differences (DID) strategy. A total of 932 354 cases were admitted in the intervention group and 608 940 were in control. Key outcomes included per-admission spending, out-of-pocket payments, r

SUBMITTER: Dong X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12606801 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature