Policy measure to curb health corruption in China and outcomes: a systematic review / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To summarize the current policies and measures in curbing health corruption in China, and to evaluate the implementation results of these policies and measures.Methods:We made a systematic review to search and screen the literatures, with related thematic information extracted, compared and classified to form an integrated view by the data integration method of thematic synthesis.Results:A total of 147 literatures were included, covering such health policies and measures as the basic drug system, the centralized bidding and purchasing and centralized drug purchasing, the " two-invoice system" , hospital information disclosure system, adverse records of commercial bribery, doctor′s virtue evaluation system and no bribery agreement. These five policies and measures prove effective in curbing the corruption, but some types of corruption tend to evade such restrictions.Conclusions:The five types of policy measures summarized in the study have effectively curbed the high risk exposure of corruptions found in drugs, medical consumables and medical devices, and also guided and restrained the profit-oriented behaviors of the behavior subjects. Stronger measures should be integrated into a broader reform of the healthcare system, in combination with institutional compensation and operational mechanism reform, medical personnel compensation and incentive system, and modern pluralistic governance reform. Meanwhile, studies in the field of corruption need to focus on the direct and indirect effects of multi-level medical reform policies on corruption governance from an integrated perspective, while attention needs to cover more types of corruption behaviors, and to diversify research methods, so as to provide more practical policy support.