Abstract
BackgroundUnequal allocation of medical physician resource represents one of major problems in the current medical service management in China and many other countries. This study is designed to analyze the current distribution of physicians in 31 provincial administrative regions in China, to estimate the fairness of the distribution of physicians and provide a theoretical basis for the improvement of the allocation of physicians.MethodsThis study took physicians from 31 provincial administrative regions in China as the study objects, and the data were obtained from the China Health Statistics Yearbook 2019 and the official website of the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Calculation of the Gini coefficient (G) and the Theil index (T) were carried out by drawing the Lorenz curve. The fairness of present physician location in 31 provincial administrative regions in China was analyzed from the perspective of distribution by both population and service area.ResultsThe Gini coefficients of medical physicians in China are 0.003 and 0.88 by population and by service area, respectively. This shows that the distribution of medical physicians is fair basing on population, and there is little difference in the number of physicians per 1000 population in different regions. However, the physician distribution basing on service area is highly unfair and shows a large gap in the number of physicians per square kilometer between different regions. In general, Beijing, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Tianjin are higher than the overall level of 31 provincial administrative regions. In addition, the number of medical physicians in Zhejiang, Shandong, Beijing and Jiangsu is over-provisioned.ConclusionBridging the number of medical physicians in different regions is a key step to improve the equity of physicians’ resource allocation. Thus, findings from this study emphasize the need to take more measures to reduce physician quality differences between regions, balance and coordinate medical resources. This will increase the access of all citizens to quality medical services.
Highlights
Unequal allocation of medical physician resource represents one of major problems in the current medical service management in China and many other countries
Analysis of the distribution of general physicians by both population and service area showed that Beijing, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Tianjin are higher than the overall level of 31 provincial administrative regions across the country (T-population
This study revealed that the fairness of medical physician distribution among the 31 provincial administrative regions is very high basing on served population
Summary
Unequal allocation of medical physician resource represents one of major problems in the current medical service management in China and many other countries. Due to the desire for improved fairness of the distribution of human resources for health [2], the issue of equality of human resources for health frequently appears in China's policy development agenda. In March 2015, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Notice on Printing and Distributing the Outline of the National Medical Service System Planning (2015-2020)” (Guobanfa [2015] No 14), which was clearly planned that by 2020, the number of practicing (assistant) physicians per 1000 permanent residents in China will reach 2.5. During 2018–2019, the State Council successively issued the Opinions on Promoting the Development of “Internet + Medical and Health” (Guobanfa [2018] No 26), and the “Notice on Printing and Distributing Key Tasks for Deepening the Medical and Health System in 2019” (National Banfa [2019] No 28) and other policies. The purpose is to adopt measures such as the adoption of Internet technology, the construction of national medical centers and regional medical centers, This will speed up the implementation of medical resources, and improve the level of medical services in areas where quality medical resources are in short supply
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