Analysis on the Cooperation Mechanism between CDC and Medical Community at County Level in China: From the Perspective of Evolutionary Game Theory

Abstract

Objective: Using evolutionary game theory to explore the conditions for in-depth cooperation between county-level Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Medical Community, and to raise policy recommendations. Methods: The basic assumptions of the evolutionary game model were set through the information collected from focus group interview and individual interview, then the basic model was established by constructing the payment matrix and the replicator dynamic equation. The condition of in-depth cooperation was deduced by stable equilibrium analysis. Results: To improve cooperation effectiveness, the following conditions should be met: total income of CDC and Medical Community after the cooperation increased, additional benefit to CDC from the cooperation increased, effort level of the cooperation increased, psychological cost of CDC and Medical Community from the cooperation decreased. Thus the Medical Community and CDC were more inclined to cooperate and setup cooperation network. Conclusion: To setup in-depth cooperation, it is suggested: 1) government administrative intervention to push forward the cooperation as the initial and external impetus; 2) unified or dual leadership to drive the prevention-and-treatment network as internal support; 3) in-depth resources sharing to foster organizational and structural interdependence as the basis of cooperation; 4) objective interdependence to push self-improvement of cooperation as continuous self-driven force.