Has China's Healthcare Reform Reduced the Number of Patients in Large General Hospitals?

Abstract

Many studies have shown that the new round of healthcare reform launched by the Chinese government in 2009 has not effectively solved the problem in which patients more readily choose large general hospitals. We aimed to find out if this situation exists in every department of a large general hospital. This study collected the outpatient data of 24 departments for a large general hospital in Beijing. By calculating the average growth rate of outpatients in each department from 2014 to 2019, and the utilization rate of outpatient appointments in different departments in 2020, we found that the average growth rate of outpatients in 4 departments (16.6%) was negative, and the utilization rate of outpatient appointments in 13 departments (54.16%) was less than 80%. This shows that the number of patients in some departments is declining, and that there is an inefficient use of doctor resources. Obviously, this is inconsistent with people's current beliefs. Therefore, it is not entirely true that China's healthcare reform has not reduced the number of patients in large general hospitals. At the same time, the inefficient use of outpatient doctor resources is a phenomenon worthy of attention; if it persists, it will result in significant waste in the healthcare system. We suggest that policy makers and hospital managers in China, and countries similar to China, can attract attention and take measures.