With the continuous progress and development of the medical and health industry, drug procurement has gradually attracted more attention, and the drug bidding and procurement model in China is in a stage of gradual improvement. In this article, the historical evolution of drug centralized bidding and procurement policy in China is briefly introduced. By analyzing the current drug centralized bidding and procurement policy implemented in China, issues such as difficulty reasonably determining “quantity” in quantity procurement, lack of drug effective supervision of procurement policy, incomplete drug catalog procurement, and out-of-network procurement were found. Some possible feasible suggestions are also put forward, aiming at providing reference and ideas for further improvement of drug centralized bidding and procurement policy under the new situation, so as to ensure safety of drugs and benefit the people.
Objective To compare the national essential medicines list (EML) and national essential insurance medicine list (EIML) of China with that of the WHO, so as to provide reasonable evidence for the adjustment of new EML and EIML of China. Methods The similarities and differences in the selection, updating, categories, subcategories and the amounts of medicines in the EML and EIML of China and the WHO EML were compared and analyzed. Results There are some differences among the three lists in selecting principles, updating of medicines .The latest version of WHO EML (version in 2007) has 27 categories, including 340 medicines; China EML (version in 2004) has 23 categories and 773 western medicines, containing 23 categories and 225 (66.17%) similar medicines of WHO EML, which accounts for 29.11% of EML of China. China EIML (version in 2005) has 23 categories and 1 031 western medicines, containing 22 categories and 227 (66.76%) of WHO EML, which accounts for 22.02% of EIML of China. China EIML was developed based on China EML. There is little difference in selecting, updating, categories of medicines. Conclusion The difference was obviously found in medicine selection, updating and categories between China EML, EIML and WHO EML. We suggested that our national EML and EIML should be more reasonably selected and updated base on the principals of WHO EML.
ObjectivesTo analyze the economic burden caused by delay in the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes.MethodsThe employee/non-employee health insurance and medical examination data from Japan Medical Data Center (JMDC) and Milliman Inc. were used to analyze the health economic burden of the situation in case the diabetic population receives timelydiagnosis and treatment with real world data.ResultsThe overall population delaying the diabetes diagnosis and treatment in Japan was estimated to be 916 000, and the average time of delay was 39.6 months. The increase in time of delay was related with the increase in monthly medical costs after diabetes diagnosis. If the whole delayed population could receive timely diagnosis and treatment, it can totally save about 38.24 billion yuan (1.5% of the annual Japanese national medical expenditure.ConclusionsThe current study suggests a huge potential health economic burden that can be improved by promoting the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, which provides reference for the economic evaluation of similar health policies and also the application of real world data in China in future.
Objective To explore the impact of diagnosis-related group (DRG) payment method reform under total amount control on neurology and neurosurgery departments. Methods The DRG grouping data of the Department of Neurology and the Department of Neurosurgery of Panzhihua Central Hospital from January 2018 to December 2020 were collected, and the mature DRG evaluation indexes in China were selected. Using the interrupt time series analysis method, the DRG-related indexes of the two departments before and after the introduction of the performance appraisal plan in July 2019 were compared, to evaluate the intervention effects on the two departments. Results Both neurology and neurosurgery departments showed a slow downward trend in the overall medical service capacity under the DRG payment. The efficiency of medical services showed a slow upward trend and the consumption of medical expenses showed a slow downward trend in the Department of Neurology, while the efficiency of medical services showed a slow downward trend and the consumption of medical expenses showed a slow upward trend in the Department of Neurosurgery. According to the results of interrupt time series analysis, in the Department of Neurosurgery, the total weight showed a significant downward trend before intervention (β1=−5.526, P=0.003), and the downward trend became sluggish after intervention, with a statistically significant slope difference before and after intervention (β3=4.546, P=0.047); the case-mix index showed a downward trend before intervention (β1=−0.050, P<0.001), and no obvious trend after intervention, with a statistically significant slope difference before and after intervention (β3=0.052, P=0.001); the cost consumption index showed no obvious downward trend before intervention (β1=−0.006, P=0.258), and an upward trend after intervention, with a statistically significant slope difference before and after intervention (β3=0.027, P=0.032). The impact of this assessment plan on the Department of Neurology was not statistically significant (P>0.05), needing further observation. Conclusions The reform of DRG payment method under total amount control has different effects on the evaluation indicators of clinical departments of different natures. It is recommended to implement classified management and assessment for clinical departments of different natures.
This article is based on the work practice of Medical-lnsurance-Medicine Linkage carried out by the Nanping First Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University under the reform of payment based on diagnosis related group (DRG). It outlines the connotation and extension of Medical-lnsurance-Medicine Linkage in the hospital, including concept definition, organizational structure, the relationship between DRG payment and Medical-lnsurance-Medicine Linkage, and summarizes the specific measures and positive results of the Medical-lnsurance-Medicine Linkage work mechanism from four aspects: medical quality management, medical insurance management, medical drugs/consumables management, and performance evaluation. These experiences are of great significance for improving the quality and efficiency of medical care, actively responding to the reform of medical insurance payment methods, enhancing the level of medical services in public hospitals, and achieving a win situation among the medical insurance management departments, hospitals, and patients.
Objective To investigate the variation of total hospitalization cost for single-diagnosed disease of different types of acute appendicitis in a three-A hospital, so as to provide evidence for the reimbursement amount of social medical insurance. Methods All patients with acute appendicitis who had surgery treatment during January-April 2011 (before implementing the fee system for single-diagnosed disease) and January-April 2012 (after implementing the fee system for single-diagnosed disease) were collected in this study for analysis. According to the types of acute appendicitis, the patients were stratified into the low risk group (simple, suppurative and gangrenous) and the high risk group (perforative, abscess-formed and pregnancy-combined). The correlation between total hospitalization cost and types of acute appendicitis, as well as the changes of total hospitalization cost after implementing the fee system for single-diagnosed disease were analyzed. Results A total of 90 eligible patients were included. The disease types were positively correlated with hospital stays and total hospitalization cost. All three types in the low risk group could control the average total hospitalization cost within RMB 10 000 yuan. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that, before implementing the fee system for single-diagnosed disease, the total hospitalization cost up to RMB 6 000 yuan could be positively correlated with the above risk stratification (r=0.442, P=0.003). After implementing the fee system for single-diagnosed disease from January to April 2012, the constituent ratio of hospital stays, compared with that in the same period of 2011, had no significant difference (P=0.108) between the two groups; but the ratio of hospital stays (less than 5 days) increased from 45% to 64%, and the ratio of hospital stays (greater than or equal to 10 days) decreased from 17% to 4%, indicating a tendency of shortening hospital stays. Also, the constituent ratio of total hospitalization cost had no significant difference (P=0.114) between the two groups; but the ratio of total hospitalization cost (greater than or equal to RMB 9 000 yuan) decreased from 32% to 13%, indicating a tendency of lowering total hospitalization cost. Conclusion The low risk group of acute appendicitis, RMB 6 000 yuan should be rated as the rational reimbursement amount of social medical insurance. The total hospitalization cost for the high risk group is quite various, so the further studies are needed to investigate the feasibility of the fee system for single-diagnosed disease as well as the rating amount of total hospitalization cost. The implementation of the fee system for single-diagnosed disease is helpful to shorten hospital stays and reduce total hospitalization cost.
Health insurance system has been proved to be an effective way to promote the quality of health service in many countries. However, how to control health expenditure under health insurance system remains a problem to be resolved. Some developed countries like UK, Canada and Sweden linked their health technology assessment results with decision making and health insurance management, and made prominent achievements in both expenditure control and quality improvement. China is carrying out its health system reform and running a new health insurance project. Using the experiences of other countries is undoubtedly of great importance in developing and managing our health insurance system.
Judging from the latest policies related to the medical insurance payment reform of the state and Sichuan province, the reform of medical insurance diagnosis-related group (DRG)/diagnosis-intervention packet (DIP) payment methods is imperative. The impact of DRG/DIP payment method reform on public hospitals is mainly analyzed from the aspects of hospital cost accounting and control, quality of filling in the first page of medical cases, coding accuracy, standard of medical practice, development of diagnosis and treatment technology innovation business, multi-departmental linkage mechanism, competition between hospitals, performance appraisal mechanism, and negotiation and communication mechanism. We should put forward hospital improvement strategies from the top-level design of the whole hospital and from the aspects of improving the quality of the first page of the cases and the quality of the coding, strengthening the cost accounting and control of the disease, carrying out in-hospital and out-of-hospital training, establishing a liaison model, finding gaps with benchmark hospitals, enhancing the core competitiveness of innovative technologies, and improving internal performance appraisal, etc., to promote the high-quality development of hospitals.