Comprehensive reform of community health service in east,middle and west regions of China:from patients’perspective

Objectives:To analyze the satisfaction of patients with community health service(CHS)and the changes of the CHS delivered before and after the new health reform in different regions of China,and to put forward relevant policy recommendations for CHS development.Methods:Twelve community health centers were selected by random sampling in each of the eight typical cities in the east,middle and west regions of China.Questionnaire survey was conducted among patients visiting these institutions during daily work hours.Results:The proportions of the participants who stated that the medical environment,service attitude and medical skills of the doctors were improved were higher in the west region than those of the east and middle regions;but the percentage of patients who held that the drug price had lowered was higher in the east region than those of the middle and west region,the differences were of statistical significance(P<0.0125).The patients’satisfaction rates with medical environment,service attitude,and technical skills of the medical staff in the west region were 88.9%,91.5%and 81.6%respectively,which were higher than those in the east and middle regions.In the east region,the satisfaction rate with the reimbursement for this visit was 58.5%,which was highest among the three regions;in the west region,patients’satisfaction rates with drug types and preventive care were 51.5%and 65.9%,respectively,which was significantly higher than those in the east and middle regions(P<0.0125).As recommended by the participants,the top three aspects of health services that need to be improved were drug type and quality(25.3%),drug prices(21.8%)and technical skills(18.2%)in the east region;infrastructure(28.2%),drug prices(21.8%)and drug types and quality(21.2%)in the middle region;infrastructure(30.8%),drug types and quality(28.1%)and reimbursement(27.9%)in the west region.Conclusions:The comprehensive CHS reform should take the opinions of patients into account;essential drug system should be consolidated continually;and the reform of the payment system should be promoted by actively cooperating with the health insurance organizations.

Health professionals’perspective on the impact of community health care reform in different regions of China

Objective:Changes in supplying community health services,degree of satisfaction,and pol-icy suggestions are presented from the perspectives of health professionals in different regions of China with the purpose of further facilitating comprehensive reform of community health services.Methods:Based on geographic location and economic level of development,eight cities were selected and 12 community health service institutions were chosen by random sampling from each city.A questionnaire survey was conducted by the health professionals.Results:With respect to working enthusiasm,reduction in antibiotic drug use,social image and trust of patients,more health professionals in middle and western China showed positive feed-backs than those in eastern China.With respect to preliminary results of the reform,performance and salary,and health care insurance policies,health professionals’satisfaction levels in middle and western China were higher than in eastern China.The health professionals in middle and western China were more concerned about equipment,infrastructure and increasing training op-portunities.The health professionals in both eastern and middle China accentuated improving the variety of essential drugs covered by health insurance,while health professionals in eastern China suggested performance-related payment reform.Conclusions:The performance of health professionals in middle and western China was improved more signifi cantly through comprehensive reform than that of health professionals in eastern China.For health professionals in middle and western China,it is essential to strengthen infrastructure and increase professional training,while health professionals in middle and eastern China would like to see an increase in the variety of essential drugs,and those in eastern China require strengthening performance-related payment reform.

Performance evaluation indicator system for the implementation of essential drug system in community health service institutions

Objective:This research aims to develop a more scientific and reasonable performance evaluation indicator system for the implementation of an essential drug system in community health service institutions.Methods:The Delphi method was used to establish an indicator system based on three rounds of expert consultations,and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was used to determine the weights of the indicators.Results:The participation in the three rounds of consultations were 100%(10/10),90%(18/20),and 85%(17/20),which showed that the experts had real enthusiasm for participating in this research.The authority coefficients of the first-,second-,and third-level indicators were 0.75,0.76,and 0.76,respectively,which showed that the consultation results were dependable.The concordance coefficients of the second and third rounds were 0.489 and 0.487,respectively(P<0.001),indicating that the expert opinions were highly consistent.The performance evaluation indicator system consisted of three first-level indicators(supporting,implementation,and effect indicators),nine second-level indicators,and 21 third-level indicators.Conclusion:In this new performance evaluation indicator system,the selected experts were representative,the consultation results were dependable,the constructed evaluation indicator system was reasonable,and the setting of weights was scientific.