The Imbalance between Patient Needs and the Limited Competence of Top-Level Health Providers in Urban China: An Empirical Study Based on a 2008 National Household Survey

Abstract

Objective: To show the pattern of patient satisfaction with top-level delivery organizations (Level 2 and Level 3 hospitals), and using neo-institutionalism approach to explain the relatively low satisfaction and to explore the limitations with top providers, focusing on how to improve the competence of Level 2 and Level 3 hospitals at both the individual hospital level and the whole delivery system level.Data Sources/Study Setting: The household survey by the National Bureau of Statistics in China in 2008; China Health Statistics Yearbooks.Data Collection/Extraction Methods: The analysis uses a 2008 sample medical experiences of 5,036 residents from 17 provinces collected in a household survey by the National Bureau of Statistics in China. The linear regression model, the structural difference regression model, and the ordered probit model are used in our framework.Principal Findings: The imbalance between the needs of patients and the limited competence of top-level providers, and the conflict between the business expansion and the limited competence of those providers are deeply and widely influenced by patterns of patient needs, the top providers’ expansion, and the institutional environment.Conclusions: In order to effectively respond to patient needs, top and lower level providers need to set their own individual priorities. The government needs to improve institutional arrangements to respond to patient needs with the development of a fair and appropriate reimbursement and compensation pricing mechanism, and with further evaluation of top level providers’ advanced and limited health services.