Impacts of the clinics-pharmacy separation reform on outpatient CT utilization in Beijing / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the impacts of the clinics-pharmacy separation reform on outpatient CT utilization and provide policy recommendations for the rational use, refined management and subsequent price adjustment for large-scale imaging equipments.Methods:The number of outpatient CT examinations of a tertiary public hospital in Beijing from January 1st, 2015 to April 30th, 2019 was collected. Data were analyzed using single-and multi-group interrupted time series analysis model(ITS), along with qualitative interviews.Results:The number of CT examinations increased by 0.216 per 100 visits after the reform( P<0.001). The trend of changes(slope)in the number of CT examinations increased by 0.012 person-times/month( P<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in the slope change of CT examinations between patients under Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance and those under Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance( P=0.504). Conclusions:The reform has significantly increased the utilization of outpatient CT examinations. However, the impacts of the reform may be similar among patients covered by different insurance systems. The qualitative interviews imply it as necessary to pay attention to the overworking status of relevant practitioners and be alert to the excessive use of large-scale imaging equipments.