Continuity of health care: measurement and application in two rural counties of Guangxi Province, China.

BACKGROUND: Continuity of care (COC) is highly regarded in health promotion and health system strengthening. However, there is a lack of multidimensional quantitative assessment of continuity, making it challenging to evaluate and compare. Our objective was to create a novel measurement for COC and apply it in two rural counties in China to assess its validity and feasibility in evaluating health system reform. METHOD: This study conducted a scoping literature review on COC, examining existing frameworks and indicators. Following an online expert poll, a composite indicator was developed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The measurement tool was then applied to assess the current state of COC in two rural counties in China. In addition to descriptive analysis, demographic and economic characteristics were analyzed for their association with COC scores using t-tests and multiple linear regression models. RESULTS: The final COC measurement encompasses three dimensions, six sub-dimensions, and ten individual indicators, which integrated and improved the current frameworks and indicators. Relational continuity, informational continuity, and management continuity were identified as the primary dimensions of COC measurement. The COC score is 0.49 in County A and 0.41 in County B, with information continuity being the highest-scoring dimension. Notably, the disparity in continuity scores is most pronounced among individuals with varying attitudes towards health, demonstrating a positive correlation. CONCLUSION: The construction of the composite indicator in this study offers a scientific and effective metric for comprehensively measuring continuity of care. The empirical data analysis conducted in Western China serves as an illustrative application of the indicator, demonstrating its efficiency. The results obtained from this analysis provide a solid foundation and valuable reference for strengthening the health system.

Changes in health care utilization and financial protection after integration of the rural and urban social health insurance schemes in Beijing, China.

BACKGROUND: China expanded health coverage to residents in informal economic sectors by the rural new cooperative medical scheme (NCMS) for rural population and urban resident basic medical insurance scheme (URBMI) for non-working urban residents. Fragmentation of resident social health insurance schemes exacerbated the health inequity and China started the integration of urban and rural resident medical insurance schemes since 2016. Beijing finished the insurance integration in 2017 and has been implementing a unified urban and rural resident basic medical insurance scheme (URRBMI) since the beginning of 2018. This study aims to examine changes in health care utilization and financial protection after integration of the rural and urban social health insurance schemes. METHODS: We used household survey data from Beijing Health Services Survey in 2013 and 2018. Respondents who were 15 or older and covered by URBMI, NCMS or URRBMI were included in this study. Our study finally included 8,554 individuals in 2013 and 6,973 individuals in 2018, about 70% of which were rural residents in each year. Descriptive analysis was used to compare the healthcare utilization, healthcare expenditure and incidence of catastrophic health expenditure between different groups. A series of two-part regression models were used to analyze the changes of healthcare utilization, healthcare expenditure and incidence of catastrophic health expenditure. RESULTS: From 2013 to 2018, urban-rural disparity in outpatient care utilization seemed widened because urban residents' utilization of outpatient care increased 131% while rural residents' utilization only increased 72%; both rural and urban residents' spending on outpatient care increased about 50%. Utilization of inpatient care changed little and poor residents still used significantly less inpatient care compared with the rich residents. Poor residents still suffered heavily catastrophic health expenditures. CONCLUSION: From 2013 to 2018, residents' utilization of healthcare, especially outpatient care, increased in Beijing. Health insurance reforms increased residents' utilization of healthcare but failed to reduce their healthcare financial burden, especially for poor people. Our study advocates more pro-poor insurance policies and more efforts on the efficiency of health system.

Quality of primary health care in China: challenges and recommendations.

China has substantially increased financial investment and introduced favourable policies for strengthening its primary health care system with core responsibilities in preventing and managing chronic diseases such as hypertension and emerging infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, widespread gaps in the quality of primary health care still exist. In this Review, we aim to identify the causes for this poor quality, and provide policy recommendations. System challenges include: the suboptimal education and training of primary health-care practitioners, a fee-for-service payment system that incentivises testing and treatments over prevention, fragmentation of clinical care and public health service, and insufficient continuity of care throughout the entire health-care system. The following recommendations merit consideration: (1) enhancement of the quality of training for primary health-care physicians, (2) establishment of performance accountability to incentivise high-quality and high-value care; (3) integration of clinical care with the basic public health services, and (4) strengthening of the coordination between primary health-care institutions and hospitals. Additionally, China should consider modernising its primary health-care system through the establishment of a learning health system built on digital data and innovative technologies.

Payment methods for healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings.

BACKGROUND: Changes to the method of payment for healthcare providers, including pay-for-performance schemes, are increasingly being used by governments, health insurers, and employers to help align financial incentives with health system goals. In this review we focused on changes to the method and level of payment for all types of healthcare providers in outpatient healthcare settings. Outpatient healthcare settings, broadly defined as 'out of hospital' care including primary care, are important for health systems in reducing the use of more expensive hospital services. OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of different payment methods for healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings on the quantity and quality of health service provision, patient outcomes, healthcare provider outcomes, cost of service provision, and adverse effects. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase (searched 5 March 2019), and several other databases. In addition, we searched clinical trials platforms, grey literature, screened reference lists of included studies, did a cited reference search for included studies, and contacted study authors to identify additional studies. We screened records from an updated search in August 2020, with any potentially relevant studies categorised as awaiting classification. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised trials, non-randomised trials, controlled before-after studies, interrupted time series, and repeated measures studies that compared different payment methods for healthcare providers working in outpatient care settings. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We conducted a structured synthesis. We first categorised the payment methods comparisons and outcomes, and then described the effects of different types of payment methods on different outcome categories. Where feasible, we used meta-analysis to synthesise the effects of payment interventions under the same category. Where it was not possible to perform meta-analysis, we have reported means/medians and full ranges of the available point estimates. We have reported the risk ratio (RR) for dichotomous outcomes and the relative difference (as per cent change or mean difference (MD)) for continuous outcomes. MAIN RESULTS: We included 27 studies in the review: 12 randomised trials, 13 controlled before-and-after studies, one interrupted time series, and one repeated measure study. Most healthcare providers were primary care physicians. Most of the payment methods were implemented by health insurance schemes in high-income countries, with only one study from a low- or middle-income country. The included studies were categorised into four groups based on comparisons of different payment methods. (1) Pay for performance (P4P) plus existing payment methods compared with existing payment methods for healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings P4P incentives probably improve child immunisation status (RR 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19 to 1.36; 3760 patients; moderate-certainty evidence) and may slightly increase the number of patients who are asked more detailed questions on their disease by their pharmacist (MD 1.24, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.54; 454 patients; low-certainty evidence). P4P may slightly improve primary care physicians' prescribing of guideline-recommended antihypertensive medicines compared with an existing payment method (RR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.12; 362 patients; low-certainty evidence). We are uncertain about the effects of extra P4P incentives on mean blood pressure reduction for patients and costs for providing services compared with an existing payment method (very low-certainty evidence). Outcomes related to workload or other health professional outcomes were not reported in the included studies. One randomised trial found that compared to the control group, the performance of incentivised professionals was not sustained after the P4P intervention had ended. (2) Fee for service (FFS) compared with existing payment methods for healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings We are uncertain about the effect of FFS on the quantity of health services delivered (outpatient visits and hospitalisations), patient health outcomes, and total drugs cost compared to an existing payment method due to very low-certainty evidence. The quality of service provision and health professional outcomes were not reported in the included studies. One randomised trial reported that physicians paid via FFS may see more well patients than salaried physicians (low-certainty evidence), possibly implying that more unnecessary services were delivered through FFS. (3) FFS mixed with existing payment methods compared with existing payment methods for healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings FFS mixed payment method may increase the quantity of health services provided compared with an existing payment method (RR 1.37, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.76; low-certainty evidence). We are uncertain about the effect of FFS mixed payment on quality of services provided, patient health outcomes, and health professional outcomes compared with an existing payment method due to very low-certainty evidence. Cost outcomes and adverse effects were not reported in the included studies. (4) Enhanced FFS compared with FFS for healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings Enhanced FFS (higher FFS payment) probably increases child immunisation rates (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.48; moderate-certainty evidence). We are uncertain whether higher FFS payment results in more primary care visits and about the effect of enhanced FFS on the net expenditure per year on covered children with regular FFS (very low-certainty evidence). Quality of service provision, patient outcomes, health professional outcomes, and adverse effects were not reported in the included studies. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: For healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings, P4P or an increase in FFS payment level probably increases the quantity of health service provision (moderate-certainty evidence), and P4P may slightly improve the quality of service provision for targeted conditions (low-certainty evidence). The effects of changes in payment methods on health outcomes is uncertain due to very low-certainty evidence. Information to explore the influence of specific payment method design features, such as the size of incentives and type of performance measures, was insufficient. Furthermore, due to limited and very low-certainty evidence, it is uncertain if changing payment models without including additional funding for professionals would have similar effects. There is a need for further well-conducted research on payment methods for healthcare providers working in outpatient healthcare settings in low- and middle-income countries; more studies comparing the impacts of different designs of the same payment method; and studies that consider the unintended consequences of payment interventions.

Different impacts of the zero-markup drug policy on county general and traditional Chinese medicine hospitals: evidence from Shandong province, China.

BACKGROUND: As a key part of the new round of health reform, the zero-markup drug policy (ZMDP) removed the profit margins of drug sales at public health care facilities, and had some effects to the operation of these institutions. This study aims to assess whether the ZMDP has different impacts between county general and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitals. METHODS: We obtained longitudinal data from all county general and TCM hospitals of Shandong province in 2007-2017. We used difference-in-difference (DID) method to identify the overall and dynamic effects of the ZMDP. RESULTS: On average, after the implementation of the ZMDP, the share of revenue from medicine sales reduced by 16.47 and 10.42%, the revenue from medicine sales reduced by 24.04 and 11.58%, in county general and TCM hospitals, respectively. The gross revenue reduced by 5.07% in county general hospitals. The number of annual outpatient visits reduced by 11.22% in county TCM hospitals. Government subsidies increased by 199.22 and 89.3% in county general and TCM hospitals, respectively. The ZMDP reform was not significantly associated with the revenue and expenditure surplus, the number of annual outpatient visits and the number of annual inpatient visits in county general hospitals, the gross revenue, the revenue and expenditure surplus and the number of annual inpatient visits in county TCM hospitals. In terms of dynamic effects, the share of revenue from medicine sales, revenue from medicine sales, and gross revenue decreased by 20.20, 32.58 and 6.08% respectively, and up to 28.53, 63.89 and 17.94% after adoption, while government subsidies increased by around 170 to 200% in county general hospitals. The number of annual outpatient visits decreased by 9.70% and up to 18.84% in county TCM hospitals. CONCLUSION: The ZMDP achieved its some initial goals of removing the profits from western medicines in county hospitals' revenue without disrupting the normal operation, and had different impacts between county general and TCM hospitals. Meanwhile, some unintended consequences were also recognized through the analysis, such as the decline of the utilization of the TCM.

Synergy of policies to strengthen primary care: evidence from a national repeated cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: People bypass primary healthcare (PHC) institutions to seek expensive healthcare at high-level hospitals, leading to escalating medical costs and inefficient use of resources. In 2009, China launched nationwide synergic policies on primary care strengthening, to tackle access to healthcare and financial protection. This study aimed to assess the impact of the two policy areas, health insurance and health workforce, on healthcare seeking behavior. METHODS: Drawing on national survey data before (2008) and after (2013) the policies, we linked individual-level data on healthcare-seeking behavior with county-level data on health workforce and health insurance. We constructed a multilevel zero-inflated negative binomial regression to examine the impacts of average reimbursement rate (ARR) of health insurance and the density of registered physicians on outpatient/inpatient visits, and multilevel multinomial logistic regression for the impacts on choice of outpatient/inpatient care providers. RESULTS: Although the increase in health insurance ARR and physician density have positive impacts on individuals' healthcare use, their impacts might be weakened during 2008 and 2013, and the negative impacts of investment of those in PHC institutions on likelihood of visiting hospitals was larger. The negative impacts of ARR at PHC institutions on likelihood of visiting county-, municipal- and higher-level hospitals in 2013 was 28 percentage points, 66 percentage points and 33 percentage points larger than these in 2008. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care strengthening requires synergic policies. Effective mechanisms for coordination across multisectoral actions are necessities for deepening those policies to ensure efficient delivery of healthcare without experiencing financial risks.

Analysing the preferences for family doctor contract services in rural China: a study using a discrete choice experiment.

BACKGROUND: Preliminary evaluations have found that family doctor contract services (FDCSs) have significantly controlled medical expenses, better managed chronic diseases, and increased patient satisfaction and service compliance. In 2016, China proposed the establishment of a family doctor system to carry out contract services, but studies have found the uptake and utilization of these services to be limited. This study aimed to investigate rural residents' preferences for FDCSs from the perspective of the Chinese public. METHODS: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was performed to elicit the preferences for FDCSs among rural residents in China. Attributes and levels were established based on a literature review and qualitative methods. Five attributes, i.e., cost, medicine availability, the reimbursement rate, family doctor competence, and family doctor attitude, were evaluated using a mixed logit model. RESULTS: A total of 609 residents were included in the main DCE analysis. The respondents valued the high competence (coefficient 2.44, [SE 0.13]) and the good attitude (coefficient 1.42, [SE 0.09]) of family doctors the most. Cost was negatively valued (coefficient - 0.01, [SE 0.01]), as expected. Preference heterogeneity analysis was conducted after adjusting the interaction terms, and we found that rural residents with higher educational attainment prefer a good attitude more than their counterparts with lower educational attainment. The estimated willingness to pay (WTP) for "high" relative to "low" competence was 441.13 RMB/year, and the WTP for a provider with a "good" attitude relative to a "poor" attitude was 255.77 RMB/year. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that strengthening and improving the quality of primary health care, including the competence and attitudes of family doctors, should be prioritized to increase the uptake of FDCSs. The contract service package, including the annual cost, the insurance reimbursement rate and individualized services, should be redesigned to be congruent with residents having different health statuses and their stated preferences.

Action to address the household economic burden of non-communicable diseases.

The economic burden on households of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes, poses major challenges to global poverty alleviation efforts. For patients with NCDs, being uninsured is associated with 2-7-fold higher odds of catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket costs; however, the protection offered by health insurance is often incomplete. To enable coverage of the predictable and long-term costs of treatment, national programmes to extend financial protection should be based on schemes that entail compulsory enrolment or be financed through taxation. Priority should be given to eliminating financial barriers to the uptake of and adherence to interventions that are cost-effective and are designed to help the poor. In concert with programmes to strengthen national health systems and governance arrangements, comprehensive financial protection against the growing burden of NCDs is crucial in meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

The impact of the health care workforce on under-five mortality in rural China.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have focused on the relationship between increases in the health care workforce and child health outcomes, but little is known about how this relationship differs in contexts where economic growth differs by initial level and pace. This study evaluates the association between increased health professionals and the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) in rural Chinese counties from 2008 to 2014 and examines whether this relationship differs among counties with different patterns of economic growth over this period. METHODS: We estimated fixed effects models with rural counties as the unit of analysis to evaluate the association between health professional density and U5MR. Covariates included county-level gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, female illiteracy rate, value of medical equipment per bed, and province-level health expenditures (measured as a proportion of provincial GDP). To explore modification effects, we assessed interactions between health professionals and county types defined by county poverty status and county-level trajectories of growth in GDP per capita. U5MR data have been adjusted for county-level underreporting, and all other data were obtained from administrative and official sources. RESULTS: The U5MR dropped by 36.19% during the study period. One additional health professional per 1000 population was associated with a 2.6% reduction in U5MR, after controlling for other covariates. County poverty status and GDP trajectories moderated this relationship: the U5MR reductions attributed to a one-unit increase in health professionals were 6.8% among poor counties, but only 1.1% among non-poor ones. These reductions were, respectively, 6.7%, 0.7%, and 4.3% in counties with initially low GDP that slowly increased, medium-level GDP that rose at a moderate pace, and high GDP that rose rapidly. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that increased health professionals were associated with reductions in U5MR. The largest association was seen in poor counties and those with low and slowly increasing GDP per capita, which justifies further expansion of the health care workforce in these areas. This study could be instructive for other developing countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 by helping them identify where additional health professionals would make the greatest contribution.

Health-Related Internet Use in Hard-to-Reach Populations: Empirical Findings From a Survey in a Remote and Mountainous Province in China.

BACKGROUND: The expanding use of the internet contributes to more effective searches for health-related information and opens up opportunities for direct Web-based communication with health care professionals. However, little is known about how users' characteristics on the demand side influence health-related internet use, especially in remote and rural areas within developing countries. The absence of accurate estimates of users' characteristics and their impact on adaptations of health care services in developing countries constrains focused policy-centered discussions and the design of appropriate policies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of health-related internet use and to identify its determinants in a remote province in China. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in June and July of 2018 in Ningxia, located in northwestern China. Rural households were selected by multistage random sampling, and households' key members were interviewed face-to-face at the respondents' home. Dependent variables were whether the households use Web health services or not. Independent variables were chosen based on the Andersen behavioral model. Sociodemographic characteristics were compared between households that used health-related Web services with nonusers. We applied logistic regression models to evaluate multivariate associations between respondents' characteristics and their usage of Web-based health services and obtained odds ratios with 95% CI. RESULTS: A total of 1354 respondents from rural households were interviewed, of whom 707 (52.22%) were men. The mean age of the respondents was 44.54 years (SD 10.22). Almost half of the surveyed households (640/1354, 47.27%) reported using 1 or more Web-based health care services, whereas 37.8% (502/1354) reported using the internet to obtain health-related information, 15.51% (210/1354) used the internet to communicate with professionals about health issues, and 7.24% (98/1354) had engaged in Web-based consultations in the last year. After controlling for potential confounders, households engaged in health-related internet use were found to be wealthier, have higher health demands, and have less geographic access to high-quality health care compared with other households. CONCLUSIONS: The internet has become a major health information resource in rural Ningxia. Social structures, family enabling factors, health needs, and characteristics relating to health care access were significant predictors of households' health-related internet use in rural and remote areas in China. Those who belong to older age groups, have low income, and whose education levels do not extend beyond primary school education are significantly less likely to use Web-based health care services and to benefit from Web-based health care programs. A need for continued collaborative efforts involving multiple stakeholders, including communities, Web-based and other health care providers, family members, and the government is needed.

The interaction effect of health insurance reimbursement and health workforce on health care-seeking behaviour in China.

OBJECTIVE: In China, patients generally seek health care at high-level hospitals, which is leading to escalating medical costs and overloaded hospitals. Some studies have suggested that the health system is an important factor influencing individuals' health care-seeking behaviour; however, this association has not been studied in much depth. We therefore examined the impact of the health system (in terms of the interaction between health insurance reimbursement and health workforce) on health care-seeking behaviour. METHODS: Drawing on national survey data from 2008 and 2013, we linked individual-level data on choice of health care providers (our index of health care-seeking behaviour) with county-level data on the health workforce and health insurance. We then constructed a multilevel multinomial logistic model to examine the impacts of health insurance reimbursement (indexed as average reimbursement rate [ARR]) and the health workforce (number of registered physicians per 1000 population) at county hospitals and primary health care institutions (PHCs) on choice of inpatient care providers. RESULTS: Increases in ARR at county hospitals were associated with a greater probability of visiting such hospitals (relative risk ratio [RRR] = 1.23), and this positive impact was even greater in county hospitals with higher physician densities (RRR = 2.76). Greater ARR in PHCs was associated with a 73% lower probability of visiting municipal- and higher-level hospitals; increasing ARR was associated with an even lower probability when physician density in PHCs was considered (RRR = 0.09). CONCLUSION: Increases in the health insurance reimbursement and health workforce are necessary to improve health care access and thereby health care-seeking behaviour. Thus, comprehensive health system reform is necessary.

The primary health-care system in China.

China has made remarkable progress in strengthening its primary health-care system. Nevertheless, the system still faces challenges in structural characteristics, incentives and policies, and quality of care, all of which diminish its preparedness to care for a fifth of the world's population, which is ageing and which has a growing prevalence of chronic non-communicable disease. These challenges include inadequate education and qualifications of its workforce, ageing and turnover of village doctors, fragmented health information technology systems, a paucity of digital data on everyday clinical practice, financial subsidies and incentives that do not encourage cost savings and good performance, insurance policies that hamper the efficiency of care delivery, an insufficient quality measurement and improvement system, and poor performance in the control of risk factors (such as hypertension and diabetes). As China deepens its health-care reform, it has the opportunity to build an integrated, cooperative primary health-care system, generating knowledge from practice that can support improvements, and bolstered by evidence-based performance indicators and incentives.

Trends in health resource disparities in primary health care institutions in Liaoning Province in Northeast China.

BACKGROUND: The allocation of health resources in primary health care institutions (PHCI) is crucial to health reform. China has recently implemented many reform measures emphasizing the provision of primary health care services, with equity as one of the major goals. The aim of this study was to analyze the quantity, quality, and distribution of health resources in Liaoning Province from 2005 to 2017. METHODS: Data were drawn from the annual financial report from 2005 to 2017 and information from the Liaoning Province Department of Statistics. Numbers of beds and physicians were used as indicators of health resources. Capital assets per bed, value of medical equipment per bed, operational space per bed, and number of physicians with different educational levels were used as indicators of quality of health resources. Concentration indices (CI) and Gini coefficients were calculated. RESULTS: There was a steady rise in health resources in PHCI. From 2005 to 2017, the quality of health resources improved. The CI of beds showed an overall downward trend, indicating an improvement in the disparity among PHCI. There was a similar trend in the CI of fixed assets per bed. The Gini coefficients of physicians overall and physicians with different educational levels were almost always < 0.3, showing preferred equity status. There was a decreasing trend in the Gini coefficients of PHCI physicians with bachelor's degrees or higher and physicians with associate's degrees. The proportion of health resource of PHCI in health system increased from 2005 to 2009, before decreasing from 2009 to 2017 and the percentage of physicians overall and physicians with bachelor's degrees or higher in PHCI declined after 2011. CONCLUSIONS: There was an improvement in the quantity and quality of health resources in PHCI from 2005 to 2017. The distribution of health resource allocation in PHCI also improved. The findings revealed that the measures for the improvement of PHCI physicians' educational level has been successful and the measures taken by the government in health reform to strengthen the primary health care system have not been successful.

China's private institutions for the education of health professionals: a time-series analysis from 1998 to 2012.

BACKGROUND: Public institutions have been the major provider of education for health professionals in China for most of the twentieth century. In the 1990s, the Chinese government began to encourage the establishment of private education institutions, which have been steadily increasing in numbers over the past decade. However, there is a lack of authoritative data on these institutions and little has been published in international journals on the current status of private education of health professionals in China. In light of this knowledge gap, we performed a quantitative analysis of private institutions in China that offer higher education of health professionals. METHODS: Using previously unreleased national data provided by the Ministry of Education of China, we conducted time-series and descriptive analyses to study the scale, structure and educational resources from 1998 to 2012 of private institutions for health professional education. RESULTS: The number of private institutions that educate health professionals increased from two in 1999 to 123 in 2012. Private institutions displayed an average annual growth rate of 44.2% for enrolment, 59.0% for the number of students and 53.3% for the number of graduates. In 2012, nursing, clinical medicine and traditional Chinese medicine had the most students (37.2%, 32.8% and 8.9% respectively), representing 78.9% of all students in these institutions. Ninety-seven private institutions located in the more economically advantaged eastern and central China and only 26 ones were in the less economically advantaged western China, respectively turning out 85.2% and 14.8% of health professional graduates. There were less educational resources, such as the number of faculty members, physical space and assets, at private institutions than at public institutions. CONCLUSIONS: Private institutions for the education of health professionals have emerged quickly in China, contributing to the demand for health professionals that exceeds what public institutions are able to offer. At the same time, the imbalance of geographical distribution and poor educational resources of private institutions are of concern. It may be of utmost importance to enhance administration and supervision to better regulate private institutions and their development plans. Future studies may be needed to better examine the effects of private institutions on the production and allocation of health workers.

Public health education at China's higher education institutions: a time-series analysis from 1998 to 2012.

BACKGROUND: Although China's modern education for public health was developing over the past 60 years, there is a lack of authoritative statistics and analyses on the nation's development of education for public health at higher education institutions (HEIs). Few quantitative studies on this topic have been published in domestic and international peer-reviewed journals. To address this knowledge gap, we aimed to use national data to quantitatively analyse the scale, structure, and changes of public health education in China's HEIs, and to compare the changes of public health education with those of other health science disciplines. METHODS: This study uses previously unreleased national data provided by the Ministry of Education of China that includes the number of health professional students by school and major. The data, which spans from 1998 to 2012, are descriptively analyzed. RESULTS: The number of HEIs for public health education per 100 million population increased from 7.2 in 1998 to 11.3 in 2012. The total enrolment, number of students, and number of graduates increased at rates of 7.3, 7.4, and 5.8% per year, respectively. The percentage of junior college students dropped drastically from 24.0 to 8.4% from 1998 to 2012. During that same period, the number of undergraduates, master and doctorate students increased. Undergraduates accounted for the majority of public health graduates (63.1%) in 2012, and master and doctorate students increased by 10.0 and 5.1 times, respectively, from 1998 to 2012. The relative percentage of public health enrollment, students, and graduates to all health education disciplines dropped from about 6.0% percent in 1998 to around 2% in 2012. CONCLUSIONS: The overall scale of public health education has clearly expanded, though at a slower pace than many other health science disciplines in China. The increase of public health graduates helped to address the previous shortage of public health professionals. Gradually adopting a modern model of education, public health education in China has undergone notable changes that may be informative to other developing countries though it still faces a complex situation in terms of graduates' adherence to public health, student recruitment, teaching and training, program planning and reform.

Statistic Experience Based Adaptive One-Shot Detector (EAO) for Camera Sensing System.

Object detection in a camera sensing system has been addressed by researchers in the field of image processing. Highly-developed techniques provide researchers with great opportunities to recognize objects by applying different algorithms. This paper proposes an object recognition model, named Statistic Experience-based Adaptive One-shot Detector (EAO), based on convolutional neural network. The proposed model makes use of spectral clustering to make detection dataset, generates prior boxes for object bounding and assigns prior boxes based on multi-resolution. The model is constructed and trained for improving the detection precision and the processing speed. Experiments are conducted on classical images datasets while the results demonstrate the superiority of EAO in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Working performance of the EAO is verified by comparing it to several state-of-the-art approaches, which makes it a promising method for the development of the camera sensing technique.

Impact of health workforce availability on health care seeking behavior of patients with diabetes mellitus in China.

BACKGROUND: China has a high burden of diabetes mellitus (DM), and a large proportion of DM patients remain untreated for various reasons, including low availability of primary health care providers. DM patient management is one of the priorities in China's national essential public health programs. Shortage of health workforce has been a major barrier to improving access to health care for DM patients. This study examines the impact of the health workforce on outpatient utilization of DM patients. METHODS: Data were collected from China National Health Service Surveys in 2008 and 2013, covering 94 rural counties and 156 urban districts, respectively, with a total of 15,984 DM patients. Household data and facility-based data at county/district level were merged. The health workforce was measured by number of physicians per 1,000 population in county hospitals and primary health centers (PHCs), respectively. Health care seeking behavior was measured by health care utilization and distribution of health providers of the DM patients. Multilevel zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to analyze the impact of the health workforce on outpatient visits by DM patients, and a multilevel, multinomial logit model was used to examine the impact of the health workforce on choice of health providers by DM patients. RESULTS: An increase in the number of physicians at both county hospitals and PHCs was associated with increased outpatient visits by DM patients, particularly more physicians at PHCs. With increased numbers of physicians at PHCs, outpatient visits among residents with DM in rural and western areas of China increased more than those in urban and eastern areas. More physicians at PHCs had a positive impact on improving the likelihood of outpatient visits at PHCs. The positive influence of increasing the number of physicians available to DM patients in rural and western areas was greater than that for urban and eastern DM patients. CONCLUSIONS: The health workforce is a key component of any healthcare system and is critical in improving health care accessibility. Strategies to increase coverage of health workforce at PHCs are crucial to achieving adequate levels of health services for DM patients. Allocation of health workforce should focus on PHCs in rural and low-income areas.

Extending access to essential services against constraints: the three-tier health service delivery system in rural China (1949-1980).

BACKGROUND: China has made remarkable progress in scaling up essential services during the last six decades, making health care increasingly available in rural areas. This was partly achieved through the building of a three-tier health system in the 1950s, established as a linked network with health service facilities at county, township and village level, to extend services to the whole population. METHODS: We developed a Theory of Change to chart the policy context, contents and mechanisms that may have facilitated the establishment of the three-tier health service delivery system in rural China. We systematically synthesized the best available evidence on how China achieved universal access to essential services in resource-scarce rural settings, with a particular emphasis on the experiences learned before the 1980s, when the country suffered a particularly acute lack of resources. RESULTS: The search identified only three peered-reviewed articles that fit our criteria for scientific rigor. We therefore drew extensively on government policy documents, and triangulated them with other publications and key informant interviews. We found that China's three-tier health service delivery system was established in response to acute health challenges, including high fertility and mortality rates. Health system resources were extremely low in view of the needs and insufficient to extend access to even basic care. With strong political commitment to rural health and a "health-for-all" policy vision underlying implementation, a three-tier health service delivery model connecting villages, townships and counties was quickly established. We identified several factors that contributed to the success of the three-tier system in China: a realistic health human resource development strategy, use of mass campaigns as a vehicle to increase demand, an innovative financing mechanisms, public-private partnership models in the early stages of scale up, and an integrated approach to service delivery. An implementation process involving gradual adaptation and incorporation of the lessons learnt was also essential. CONCLUSIONS: China's 60 year experience in establishing a de-professionalized, community-based, health service delivery model that is economically feasible, institutionally and culturally appropriate mechanism can be useful to other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) seeking to extend essential services. Lessons can be drawn from both reform content and from its implementation pathway, identifying the political, institutional and contextual factors shaping the three-tier delivery model over time.

Strengthening health system to improve immunization for migrants in China.

BACKGROUND: Immunization is the most cost-effective method to prevent and control vaccine-preventable diseases. Migrant population in China has been rising rapidly, and their immunization status is poor. China has tried various strategies to strengthen its health system, which has significantly improved immunization for migrants. METHODS: This study applied a qualitative retrospective review method aiming to collect, analyze and synthesize health system strengthening experiences and practices about improving immunizations for migrants in China. A conceptual framework of Theory of Change was used to extract the searched literatures. 11 searched literatures and 4 national laws and policies related to immunizations for migrant children were carefully studied. RESULTS: China mainly employed 3 health system strengthening strategies to significantly improve immunization for migrant population: stop charging immunization fees or immunization insurance, manage immunization certificates well, and pay extra attentions on immunization for special children including migrant children. These health system strengthening strategies were very effective, and searched literatures show that up-to-date and age-appropriate immunization rates were significantly improved for migrant children. CONCLUSIONS: Economic development led to higher migrant population in China, but immunization for migrants, particularly migrant children, were poor. Fortunately various health system strengthening strategies were employed to improve immunization for migrants in China and they were rather successful. The experiences and lessons of immunization for migrant population in China might be helpful for other developing countries with a large number of migrant population.

Impact of the China Healthy Cities Initiative on Urban Environment.

The China Healthy Cities initiative, a nationwide public health campaign, has been implemented for 25 years. As "Healthy China 2030" becomes the key national strategy for improving population health, this initiative is an important component. However, the effects of the initiative have not been well studied. This paper aims to explore its impact on urban environment using a multiple time series design. We adopted a stratified and systematic sampling method to choose 15 China healthy cities across the country. For the selected healthy cities, 1:1 matched non-healthy cities were selected as the comparison group. We collected longitudinal data from 5 years before cities achieved the healthy city title up to 2012. We used hierarchical models to calculate difference-in-differences estimates for examining the impact of the initiative. We found that the China Healthy Cities initiative was associated with increases in the proportion of urban domestic sewage treated (32 percentage points), the proportion of urban domestic garbage treated (30 percentage points), and the proportion of qualified farmers' markets (40 percentage points), all of which are statistically significant (P < 0.05). No significant change was found for increases in green coverage of urban built-up area (5 percentage points), green space per capita (2 square meter), and days with Air Quality Index/Air Pollution Index ≤ 100 (25 days). In conclusion, the China Healthy Cities initiative was associated with significant improved urban environment in terms of infrastructure construction, yet had little impact on green space and air quality.