Abstract
Objective: In recent years, in order to provide patients with seamless and integrated healthcare services, some models of collaboration between public hospitals and community health centres have been piloted in some cities in China. The main goals of this study were to assess the nature and characteristics of these collaboration models.Methods: Three cases of three different collaboration models in three Chinese cities were selected to analyse using descriptive statistics, Pearson χ2 and ordinal logistic regression.Results: Results showed that the Direct Management Model in Wuhan exhibited better structure indicators than the other two models. Staff in the Direct Management Model had the highest satisfaction level (77.6%) with respect to patient referral. Communications between hospitals and community health centres and among care providers were generally inadequate. Publicity about hospital–community health centre collaboration was inadequate, resulting in low awareness among patients and even among health professionals.Conclusion: Results can inform health service delivery integration efforts in China and provide crucial information for the assessment of similar collaborations in other countries.
Highlights
To overcome the problem of fragmentation in health service system, integrated health services delivery has been proposed to provide patients with a seamless and interconnected healthcare model, which has become a new trend in international healthcare reforms
Related collaboration models have been conducted in China before this study and corresponding intervention researches were very difficult to implement
Dove et al [21] have pointed out that integrated healthcare delivery is currently the favoured approach to make the best use of health resources and to reduce cost
Summary
To overcome the problem of fragmentation in health service system, integrated health services delivery has been proposed to provide patients with a seamless and interconnected healthcare model, which has become a new trend in international healthcare reforms. Close cooperation between hospitals and community health centres is seen as a suitable way to deliver chronic disease services [1]. Health service integration, especially concerning chronic diseases, is one of the major tasks of health system reform. In urban areas in China, health services are provided by healthcare institutions at different levels, including community health centres, secondary hospitals and tertiary hospitals. Most community health centres have no regular collaboration relationship with hospitals. It is difficult to have coordinated services and continuity of care across different care settings To overcome this problem, initiatives have been introduced to build a more integrated healthcare delivery system, which has become one of the most important objectives of the current Chinese healthcare reform
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