Impacts of essential medicine system on revenue structure:Evidence from township health cen-ter in Shanxi Province / 中国卫生政策研究

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the effects of essential medicine system on revenue structures at primary med-ical institutions. Methods:Data on revenue status and structures from 58 township health centers in Shanxi Province was collected to analyze changes and trends. Results:Along with growing government investments in primary medical institutions, the essential medicine system has fundamentally realized full coverage. The percentage of essential medi-cine revenue to pharmaceutical revenue rose from 20 . 45% in 2009 to 97 . 03% in 2013 , though the percentage of pharmaceutical revenue to total revenue dropped by 18 . 43%. The percentage of fiscal subsidy revenue in total reve-nue rose from 25 . 77% in 2009 to 54 . 16% in 2013 , though the percentage of business revenue to total revenue dropped in general. Conclusions:The essential medicine system requires the government’s financial support. Essen-tial medicine lists and primary financial aid policies should be further improved;doctor reimbursement and incentive mechanisms should be improved as well and unreasonable doctor service pricing and reimbursement mechanisms should be reformed.