医疗服务供给能否缓解“看病难”问题?——基于信息不对称视角的分析

Does the Supply of Medical Services Ease the “Difficulty in Getting Medical Treatment”?—On Information Asymmetry Perspective

本文基于患者效用最大化模型分析了信息不对称下中国医疗服务供需关系,识别出从医疗供给侧影响“看病难”问题的机理。在此基础上,利用CFPS数据对相关假说进行实证检验。结果表明,医疗服务供给总体能够缓解居民“看病难”问题,其效应主要来自医疗机构服务容量、医疗人力资本和医疗资金投入。进一步研究发现,从不同医疗机构来看,仅等级医院和公立医院缓解了居民“看病难”问题。从不同群体来看,医疗服务供给仅缓解了中高收入和城镇居民的“看病难”问题。可见,我国医疗机构供给错配,医疗服务供需不协调、看病贵等问题依然严重。综上所述,本文认为调整医疗服务供给结构,优化患者就诊流程,降低医疗市场信息不对称和患者医疗费用是缓解我国“看病难”问题的有效途径。

This article analyzes the supply and demand relationship of medical services in China under asymmetric information based on the patient utility maximization model, and identifies the mechanism of the problem of “difficulty in getting medical treatment” from the medical supply side. On this basis, all the hypotheses were empirically tested using CFPS data. The results show that the medical service supply can alleviate the residents’ difficulty in seeing a doctor on the whole, and its effect mainly comes from the service capacity of medical institutions, medical human capital and medical capital investment. Further, from the perspective of different medical institutions, only grade hospitals and public hospitals alleviate residents’ “difficulty in getting medical treatment”. From the perspective of different groups, the supply of medical services only alleviates the “difficulty in getting medical treatment” for middle and high income and urban residents, it can be seen that the supply mismatch of my country’s medical institutions, the uncoordinated supply and demand of medical services, and the High Health care Cost are still serious problems in China. To sum up, adjusting the medical service supply structure, optimizing the patient treatment process, and reduc-ing the information asymmetry and medical expenses in the medical market are effective ways to alleviate the “difficulty in getting medical treatment” in China.