The impacts and unintended consequences of the nationwide pricing reform for drugs and medical services in the urban public hospitals in China.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Since 2015, China has been rolling out the pricing reform for drugs and medical services (PRDMS) in the urban public hospitals in order to reduce drug expenditures and to relieve financial burdens of patients. This study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of the reform and investigating its positive impacts and unintended consequences to provide evidence basis for further policy making.

Methods

The Difference-in-difference (DID) approach was employed to analyze the reform impacts on the 31 provincial administrative areas in China based on data abstracted from China Statistics Yearbooks and China Health Statistics Yearbooks from 2012 to 2018.

Results

The reform resulted in a decrease of 7.59% in drug cost per outpatient visit, a decrease of 5.73% in drug c

SUBMITTER: Zhang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7682084 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature