Analysis on the implementation effect of single disease payment policy for day surgery based on difference-in-differences model / 中华医院管理杂志

Objective:To analyze the implementation effect of single disease payment policy for day surgery (hereinafter referred to as the policy), for references for the reform of medical insurance payment.Methods:By collecting the information of inpatients from 2017 to 2019 in a tertiary hospital, the research group took patients with colorectal benign tumor and nodular goitre as the policy implementation group and the control group respectively. 2017-2018 was the pre implementation stage of the policy, and 2019 was the post implementation stage of the policy. The difference-in-differences (DID) model was used to analyze the changes in indicators such as length of stay and hospitalization expenses after policy implementation, under whether the policy is implemented or not, as well as before or after policy implementation.Results:A total of 2 419 patients were included, including 927 patients with nodular goiter in the control group and 1 492 patients with colorectal benign tumors in the policy implementation group (688 patients before the policy implementation and 804 patients after the policy implementation). The results of DID showed that the hospital days for patients with colorectal benign tumor decreased by 56.53%, the hospitalization expenses decreased by 26.51%, the out-of-pocket expenses decreased by 26.66%, the treatment expenses increased by 11.96%, the drug expenses decreased by 50.29% and the consumables expenses decreased by 20.23% after the implementation of the policy.Conclusions:The implementation of the policy could reduce length of stay, hospitalization expenses and out-of-pocket expenses, optimize the structure of hospitalization expenses, improve the efficiency of hospital diagnosis and treatment, and help the hospital realize its transformation from a size expansion to a quality and benefit expansion.

Relationship between reduction of urban PM2.5 and mental health of middle-aged and elderly people after China's Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan / 环境与职业医学

Background Epidemiological evidence indicates an association of particulate matter with depression and cognitive performance. From 2013 to 2017, China implemented the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan to reduce particulate matter concentration. There are few studies on the relationship between the decrease of particulate matter concentration and the improvement of mental health in middle-aged and elderly people. Objective To analyze the relationship between the decrease of city-level particulate matter concentration and the improvement of depression and cognitive function in the middle-aged and elderly population after the implementation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan. Methods Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data in 2011 and 2018, this study applied longitudinal data clustering technology to group cities based on the actual response of each city to the policy (the dynamic change trajectory of PM2.5 in each city during the study period); the higher the degree of response, the greater the reduction of PM2.5 concentration in the city. We assigned participants to three groups with different degrees of response to the policy, including low-response group A as the control group, medium-response intervention group B, and high-response intervention group C. A difference-in-differences (DID) model was used to estimate the influence of PM2.5 decline on the depression and cognitive function among middle-aged and elderly people in China by considering potential individual and city-level time-varying confounders. Depression was measured using the 10-item Center for the Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale (CES-D10) (10 questions, total score range 0-30) with higher score representing higher severity of depression. Cognitive function was evaluated with reference to the international cognitive function test questionnaire for the middle-aged and the elderly which was further categorized into two dimensions of memory and cognitive status and included 31 questions with a score range of 0-31; the higher the score, the better the cognitive function. Samples with relatively complete outcomes were selected for analysis, including 10729 people in depression analysis and 4510 people in cognitive analysis. Results The longitudinal clustering results indicated that the urban groups with the highest decline of PM2.5 concentrations (high-response group C) had the highest baseline PM2.5 concentrations, mainly in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Chengdu-Chongqing metropolitan area, and Wuhan metropolitan area. In 2011, no significant differences were observed in depression and cognitive function among the three groups of middle-aged and elderly populations (Kruskal Wallis test: Pdepression=0.864, Pcognition=0.239). Significant differences were found in depression and cognitive function in both low-response group A and medium-response group B in 2018 compared to 2011 (paired Wilcox test, all P<0.001). However, in the high-response group C, there was no significant difference in depression in 2018 compared to 2011 (P=0.195), while a significant difference was detected in cognitive function (P=0.006). As PM2.5 concentrations decreased, the DID model showed that the depression of the middle-aged and elderly people in the high-response group C decreased by 7.55% (95%CI: 2.83%-12.03%), and the cognitive function improved by 2.70% (95%CI: 0.25%-5.22%) compared with the low-response group A. However, no intervention effect was observed in group B with moderate response level compared with group A with low response level. Conclusion After the implementation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan policy, the decrease of PM2.5 concentration has an ameliorative effect on the depression and cognitive function of middle-aged and elderly people in China. Given the aging population and the increasing burden of mental-related diseases in China, the promotion of environmental air pollution control has important public health implications.

Evaluación del mecanismo de pago capitado en el seguro integral de salud del Perú / Assessment of the mechanism of payment capitated in the peruvian seguro integral de salud.

Objetivo: Evaluar el impacto del mecanismo de pago capitado, implementado por el Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS), en la ejecución de los recursos provenientes de la fuente de financiamiento donaciones y transferencias, durante los años 2012 al 2016, Perú. Métodos: Se evaluó los porcentajes de ejecución de las regiones, el número de prestaciones preventivas versus el número de prestaciones recuperativas y se midió el impacto en el incremento de las atenciones preventivas en las regiones piloto versus las regiones del contrafactual. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo pre post y diferencia de diferencias entre las regiones piloto Apurímac, Amazonas, Ayacucho, Callao y Huancavelica comparados con un contrafactual apareado por Índice de Desarrollo Humano; además, se consideró a las regiones de Moquegua, Loreto, Puno, Cajamarca y Huánuco. Resultados: Se observó un incremento del porcentaje promedio de ejecución, previo al mecanismo capitado, de 68,5% en el 2012 al 92,3% el 2016; asimismo, el incremento a nivel nacional de las prestaciones preventivas versus las prestaciones recuperativas, llegando invertirse el peso específico de las prestaciones preventivas a favor de las mismas y mediante el método de diferencias en diferencias se evidenció que las regiones piloto tuvieron una diferencia positiva de 1551 prestaciones preventivas por cada 10 000 asegurados sobre las regiones del contrafactual.

Objective:To Assess the impact of the capitated payment mechanism, implemented by the Comprehensive Health Insurance (SIS), in the execution of resources from the source of financing, donations and transfers, during the years 2012 to 2016, Peru. Methods: Assessment of the execution percentages of the regions, the number of preventive benefits versus the number of recuperative benefits and the impact on the increase of preventive care in the pilot regions versus the counterfactual regions was measured. A retrospective descriptive study was carried out pre post and difference of differences between the pilot regions Apurímac, Amazonas, Ayacucho, Callao and Huancavelica compared with a counterfactual paired by the Human Development Index; In addition, the regions of Moquegua, Loreto, Puno, Cajamarca and Huánuco were considered. Results: An increase in the average percentage of execution was observed, prior to the capitated mechanism, from 68,5% in 2012 to 92,3% in 2016; likewise, the increase at the national level of preventive benefits versus recuperative benefits, with the specific weight of preventive benefits being invested in favor of them and, using the difference in differences method, it was evident that the pilot regions had a positive difference of 1551 preventive benefits for every 10,000 insured persons versus the counterfactual regions.

An empirical study on the effects of two-way referral system: A perspective of medical service consumers / 中国卫生政策研究

Objective: To explore the effects of the bi-directional referral system from the perspective of the medical service consumer.Methods: A balanced panel data which was adjusted by Propensity Score Matching was employed to evaluate the effects of two-way referral system using difference-in-difference (DID) for the 2013 and 2015 data.The evaluation indicators including actual cost sharing ration, out-of-pocket cost per unit, the possibility of high cost, annual inpatient visits and length of hospital stay per unit were used.Results: Compared with the control group, the two-way referral system resulted in an 11.3% (P<0.001) increase in actual cost sharing ratio and an increase of 0.710 (P<0.001) annual inpatient visits in the intervention group.However, the policy did not significantly reduce the possibility of high-cost medical expenses and reduce the length of hospitalization and the annual cost hospitalization.Conclusion: Based on the key findings of the analysis of this study, the two-way referral system has beneficial effects on reducing inpatient financial burden and optimizing resource allocation.

Efeito das Unidades de Pronto Atendimento (UPA) na mortalidade por infarto agudo no miocárdio nas capitais e regiões metropolitanas do Brasil / Effect of Emergency Care Units (PMU) on mortality due to acute myocardial infarction in the capitals and metropolitan regions of Brazil

As Unidades de Pronto Atendimento (UPAs) são estabelecimentos de saúde integrados ao Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) que foram implantados em vários municípios do país, a partir da publicação da Portaria GM/MS nº 2.922/2008, para fortalecer a Política Nacional de Atenção às Urgências. As UPAs tem o objetivo de prestar atendimento resolutivo de urgência e emergência aos pacientes acometidos por quadros agudos de natureza clínica e realizar o primeiro atendimento aos casos de natureza cirúrgica, estabilizando-os. Diante da relevância do assunto, este estudo analisa o impacto das UPAs sobre a taxa de morte por Infarto Agudo de Miocárdio (IAM) nas capitais e regiões metropolitanas do Brasil, já que esta doença faz parte do rol da assistência prestada por estas unidades. Com a finalidade de tratar a endogeneidade do modelo econométrico, a estratégia de identificação adotada utiliza o método de Diferenças em Diferenças (DD), com dados municipais em painel para o período entre 2001 a 2012. Os resultados mostram que há impacto positivo e estatisticamente significativo da política, a qual apresentou uma redução na taxa de mortalidade por Infarto Agudo do Miocárdio e que, ao aumentar uma unidade de UPA, a taxa de morte cai 0,81, em média, bem como, foi observado no modelo completo com dummies de tratamento que as unidades observacionais com mais de 3 UPAs oferecem uma redução de 3,71 pontos na taxa de mortalidade por infarto. Também foram realizados testes de robustez utilizando taxas de morte de outras patologias não correlacionadas com o tratamento, assegurando o efeito da política.(AU)

The Emergency Care Units (UPA 24h) are health facilities integrated into the Unified Health System (SUS) which were implemented in several municipalities since the publication of the Ordinance GM/MS nº. 2.922/2008 to strengthen Policy national Attention to Emergencies. The UPA aims to provide health care resolving urgent and emergency cases in patients who suffering from acute episodes of clinical nature and conduct the first care of patients with surgical nature, stabilizing them. Given the importance of the subject, this study analyzes the impact of UPAs on the death's rate from Acute Myocardial (IAM) in capital cities and metropolitan areas from Brazil, as this disease is part of the donor list provided by these units. In order to treat endogeneity problem, the identification strategy adopted is the differences-in-differences, with a panel data from 2001 to 2012. The results show a positive and statistically significant impact of the policy, which showed on lowering the rate of deaths from acute myocardial infarction and that by increasing one UPA unit, the death rate falls 0.81 on average well as it noted in the complete model with dummies treatment that observational units over 3 PSUs proffer a reduction of 3.71 points in the infarction mortality rate. Robustness tests too were conducted using rates of death from other pathologies not related to treatment, ensuring the effect of the policy.(AU)

Effect of separating drug sales from medical services on hospital revenue and medical services in the county public hospitals of Guangxi Province / 中国卫生政策研究

Objective:To evaluate the effect of separating drug sales from medical services on hospital revenue and medical services in the county-level public hospitals of Guangxi. Methods:The controlled before and after study design was employed. 2009 to 2012 was the pre-intervention period;2013 was the intervention period. Pilot people’s hospitals were included in the intervention group;non-pilot people’s hospitals were included in the control group. Da-ta came from hospitals and new rural cooperative medical statistics from 2009 to 2013 and the Guangxi Statistical Yearbook from 2010 to 2014. The analysis method of difference-in-differences based regression was employed. Re-sults:Separating drug sales from medical services included cancelling medicine markups, increasing price of inspec-tion and nursing services, reducing price of large equipment inspection services and increasing financial assistance. In terms of hospital revenue, compared with non-pilot hospitals, for pilot hospitals, the reform reduced medicine rev-enues by 3. 326 million yuan and increased medical revenue by 10. 75 million yuan. There was no significant change in financial assistance. In terms of medical expenses, compared with non-pilot hospitals, the reform reduced per-visit outpatient drug expenses in pilot hospitals by 3. 51 yuan, increased per-visit outpatient inspection fees by 2. 23 yuan, reduced per-visit inpatient drug expenses by 133. 5 yuan, increased per-visit inpatient inspection fees by 62. 01 yuan, and increased per-visit inpatient nursing fees by 69. 72 yuan. There were no significant change in outpatient and inpa-tient visits, length of stay, outpatient expenses per-visit and inpatient expenses per-visit. Conclusion:County hospi-tals can offset losses due to cancelling medicine markups by medical service pricing adjustment in inpatient departments;in outpatient departments, they can offset losses due to cancelling medicine markups by both medical service pricing ad-justments and medical service utilization adjustments beyond policy adjustments. The reform did not reduce the operating revenue of pilot hospitals or the medical expenses per visit. The reform had little effect on hospital and doctor incentives.

Empirical research of the impacts of the essential medicine system based on the double-difference model upon the first contact orientation of the residents / 中华医院管理杂志

Objective To analyze the policy effect of first contact care options of residents under the essential medicine system.Methods The samples were divided into a treatment group and a control group depending whether the policy is implemented.Difference-in-differences model was used to estimate the changes in the First Contact Care choice of residents before and after the implementation.Results The net effect of policy is 6.15％,in which the resident category of the household head and per capita income were statistically significant.Conclusion Though the system promotes the first contact of residents for primary institutions,top-level design of the system calls for optimization,efficiency and equity of the health resource allocation of urban and rural health need to be improved,and the division of responsibilities of the two-level medical institutions needs to be clarified in first contact care system.

An empirical study on the effect of Beijing's separation of clinic from pharmacy reform / 中华医院管理杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of Beijing' s separation of clinic from pharmacy reform.Methods Use difference-in-difference method based on dataset on patients having Urban Worker Medical Insurance from twelve state-owned hospitals.Results The reform incurs a decrease in the outpatient and inpatient expenditure on medicine per visit (30％ and 21％,respectively),a decline in hospital's pharmaceutical ratio (9 percentages and 4 percentages,respectively); reduces the outpatient and inpatient expenditure per visit (19 ％ and 8 ％,respectively),with a decrease in the out-of-pocket part (23％ and 3％,respectively),and a slight increase in the Medical Insurance's part (2％); raises hospital's turnover (11％),outpatient's visits (22％),and inpatient visits (43％).Conclusion The reform encourages physicians to prescribe more scientifically,and hence reduces patient 's expenditure on medicine and hospital's pharmaceutical ratio; leads to a decrease in patience' s expenditure per visit;raises hospital's turnover; and doesn't cause a significant increase in the expenditure from social medical insurance.

Impact of primary care oriented outpatient benefit package design in new rural cooperative medical system on hypertension outpatient services utilization / 北京大学学报(医学版)

Objective:To study the impact of primary care oriented outpatient benefits package design of outpatient services coverage and ladder reimbursement of county , town and village levels in the new ru-ral cooperative medical system ( NRCMs) on hypertension outpatient services utilization .Methods:The panel data of treatment and control groups in 2009 and 2011 before and after the policy reform were drawn from the household survey data of the innovative payment system project .The difference in difference ( DID) method was used for data analysis .The outcome indicators included the utilization of outpatient services of patients with self-reported hypertension and their main treatment locations .Results:The pri-mary care oriented outpatient benefit package design in the NRCMs reduced the probability of no treat-ment in the latest three months of hypertension by 10.2 percent points.Meanwhile, it increased the prob-ability of choosing village clinic as the preferred location by 15 .7 percent points .Conclusion: Primary care oriented outpatient benefits package design lead patients with hypertension to use the nearest outpa -tient services at low risk of disease .

Analysis on the Impact of New Rural Cooperative Medical System on Medical Burden of Rural Residents / 中国卫生经济

Objective: To investigate the impact of New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NCMS)on rural resident’s medical burden. Methods: It investigates the survey data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey and employing difference-in-difference method based on the fixed effect model. Results: NCMS increases rural resident’s actual reimbursement rate, release the high health medical expenditure, but has limit impact on medical expenditure. The low-income group has greater risk on high medical expenditure. Conclusion: It is needed to improve the level of NCMS policy implementation; strengthen the supervision of designated medical institutions and increase policy support for low-income rural residents.

Impact of DRG Payment on the Length of Stay and the Number of Outpatient Visits After Discharge for Caesarean Section During 2004-2007 / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG)-based payment on the length of stay and the number of outpatient visits after discharge in for patients who had undergone caesarean section. METHODS: This study used the health insurance data of the patients in health care facilities that were paid by the Fee-For-Service (FFS) in 2001-2004, but they participated in the DRG payment system in 2005-2007. In order to examine the net effects of DRG payment, the Difference-In-Differences (DID) method was adopted to observe the difference in health care utilization before and after the participation in the DRG payment system. The dependent variables of the regression model were the length of stay and number of outpatient visits after discharge, and the explanatory variables included the characteristics of the patients and the health care facilities. RESULTS: The length of stay in DRG-paid health care facilities was greater than that in the FFS-paid ones. Yet, DRG payment has no statistically significant effect on the number of outpatient visits after discharge. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study that DRG payment was not effective in reducing the length of stay can be related to the nature of voluntary participation in the DRG system. Only those health care facilities that are already efficient in terms of the length of stay or that can benefit from the DRG payment may decide to participate in the program.