ObjectiveTo evaluate the current status of primary healthcare system reform in Xinjin county, in order to provide baseline data for improving the healthcare service system and population health in Chengdu. MethodsPrimary health care services and population health in Xinjin county were quantitatively described and compared. Resultsa) Eleven township hospitals (100%) and 89 village clinics (66.42%) were upgraded according to the national standards. The management of 60 village clinics were integrated with township hospitals. And 417 and 76 essential healthcare services were provided by township hospitals and village clinics, respectively. b) In 2010, the number of outpatients and inpatients in Xinjin county were increased by 24.2% and 46.3% respectively compared to those of 2009, while the costs per outpatient visit and inpatient discharge were reduced by 21.5% and 18.6% respectively. c) In 2010, health records of 98.2% of population in Xinjin county have been established; 96.3% of pregnant women were managed systematically; 98.8% of children immunization programs were implemented; 100% patients with severe mental disorders and about 78% with hypertension and diabetes were in follow-up and treatment; and 28.8% of total population got the free physical exams in 2010. d) The essential medicine accounted for 96.7% of total types of medicines and 97.8% of total expenditure of medicines in primarily healthcare institutions in Xinjin. The cost of medicine management was reduced from 8.5% to 4.2% while the medicine turnover rate was increased by 50%. e) Average life expectancy in Xinjin county was 77.97 years, infant mortality rate was 6.82‰ in 2010; and there was no maternal death in recent 8 years. f) The regional healthcare information system was established covering three-tier rural health care network spanning the county, township and village. Conclusiona) The primary healthcare system reform in Xinjin county improves the infrastructure of primary care system, the utilization of essential medical care, essential public health service, and essential medicines. b) Life expectancy, infant mortality rate and maternal mortality of Xinjin county are better than the average levels in Sichuan province and China. Xinjin county is a representative pilot county for healthcare service system reform in Chengdu city and a nice model to successfully promote healthcare system reform based on regional healthcare information system.
ObjectivesTo investigate the utilization of essential medicines and antibiotics in primary healthcare system of Xinjin county of Chengdu city from 2009 to 2011. MethodsThe data of utilization of all the medicines, essential medicines and antibiotics was collected from 17 hospitals of Xinjin primary healthcare system. Microsoft Excel 2003 was used to analyze the data. ResultsCompared with 2009, the total costs of medicines and essential medicines increased by 72.27% and 135.4% respectively in 2010. After the implementation of essential medicine policy in 2010, the proportion of essential medicines accounted for more than 90% in community healthcare centers (CHCs) and township hospitals (THs) and over 50% in county-level hospitals in 2011. In 2010, the average cost per prescription among outpatients increased by 3.51% in total, but deceased by 16.23% in CHCs/THs (RMB 15.09 yuan per prescription). In July of 2011, the policy to control the use of antibiotics was implemented in Xinjin county. The use of antibiotics decreased, but still accounted for over 30% in 9 out of 13 CHCs/THs. The use of bigeminy antibiotics and trigeminy antibiotics accounted for 0.42 to 5.56% and 0 to 0.44%, respectively. ConclusionsThe use of essential medicines increases in Xinjin county and met the national requirements. The average cost per prescription among outpatient decreases in THs and CHCs. After controlling the use of antibiotics, the proportion and cost of antibiotics is still very high, and irrational use of antibiotics probably still exists. The training and guide for evidence-based rational use of medicine should be enhanced in future.
ObjectiveTo investigate the essential healthcare system performance in Xinjin county of Chengdu city from 2009 to 2010, so as to provide baseline data for further study. MethodsThe general information of the essential healthcare, such as the numbers of out and in-patients, service and profits were collected and then analyzed using the software of Microsoft Excel 2003 and SPSS 13.0. Resultsa) The results showed that the numbers of out and in-patients were in the rank of the county, township and community hospital. The numbers of out and emergency patients has been decreased 31.0% and 25.3% in the community hospital from 2009 to 2010, while patients in the county and township hospital has been increased. The numbers of in-patients has been increased by year; b) hospital bed occupancy has been increased by year, and the hospital bed occupancy of county hospitals was 8% lower than national level in 2009, 33.5% higher in 2010, the hospital bed occupancy of township hospitals from 2009 to 2010 was higher than national level, the ones of community hospital was lower than national level; c) there is an annual decreasing tendency for average days for hospitalization in county and community hospital, which were higher than national level; d) it was lower than national average rate; e) the inpatient fee per time was lower than national average rate; f) in the components of the in-patients expense, drug expense, operation expense and diagnose expense were constituted more than 86% in all eight costs; and g) the receipts and expenditure of Xinjin hospital throughout the year increased by years, the income and expenses showed 39.3% and 37.7%. ConclusionThe hospital bed occupancy, average hospitalization days and the inpatient fee per time in Xinjin county of Chengdu city during 2009-2010, were higher than national level. The overall health performance of hospitals in Xinjin county was satisfied. However, there was significant difference between the best and the worst. In order to distribute health resources, both benefit and efficient should be emphasized.
ObjectiveTo investigate the drug utilization in primary healthcare system of Xinjin county of Chengdu in 2010. MethodsThe drug utilization information in regional health information platform of Xinjin county were collected. Microsoft Excel 2003 software was used to describe the types, forms and expenditure of medicines, particularly the use of antibiotics among outpatients and inpatients. ResultsThe drug utilization of 17 hospitals in Xinjin county in 2010 was summarized below:a) there were 1 507, 1 356 and 695 kinds of drugs dispended for outpatients, and 1 271, 1 023 and 317 for inpatients in county-level hospitals (CLH), township hospitals (TH) and community healthcare centre (CHC), respectively. Among which, oral biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) accounted for about 45% of total types, and 46% to 73% of total drug expenditure among outpatients; while oral biomedicine and the injection accounted 37% to 61% of total types of medicines dispended to inpatients, particularly injection of biomedicine accounting for over 75% of total drug expenditure among inpatients. b) The expenditure of top 30 drugs in primary care hospitals accounted for 50% of total drug expenditure among outpatients and over 85% among inpatients. c) Among the top 20 drugs, there were 15 antibiotics, which accounted for 26.5% of total drug expenditure in Xinjin county. The top 10 antibiotics were mainly cephalosporin, accounting for 59.36% and 66.27% of total antibiotics expenditure among outpatients and inpatients respectively. Conclusiona) The main forms of medicines dispended to outpatients are oral biomedicine and TCM, while oral agents and injection of biomedicine are the majority of medicines used for inpatients. b) The top 30 drugs should be monitored for rational use of drugs considering the huge expenditure. And c) the types, proportion of use and expenses of antimicrobial drugs ranked the first in CLH, CHC and TH, which may imply irrational use of antibiotics.
ObjectiveTo comprehensively evaluate the essential public health service in Xinjin county of Chengdu from 2009 to April 2011, so as to provide evidence for improving primary healthcare system reform in Chengdu city. MethodsThe data was collected from the Xinjin county-wide health information system. The electronic health records, chronic disease management, childbirth management and mental health were quantitatively described and compared. Resultsa) In 2010, 88 772 residents had the physical examination and health assessment, among which, 14 497 (16%) were detected with some health problems. The average cost per positive detection was RMB 122.5 yuan. b) Up to April 2011, 98.2% of people in Xinjin county have their health records but the proportions were ranged from 68.08% to 109.02% in different primary healthcare providers. The details of the most health records were incomplete. c) 7 318 patients with hypertension and 2 187 diabetes mellitus were detected, and among them, 90.1% of patients with hypertension and 95.1% of patients with diabetes had their health records for chronic diseases management. d) The rate of stillbirth or neonatal mortality was lower than 4‰. There was no maternal death in the 8 years. But the cesarean section rate was about 61%. e) 97.3% of the patients with mental disorders were supervised in 2010, which was reduced by 2.7% compared to 2009. Conclusionsa) There is low proportion of all the residents in Xinjin having physical examination and health assessment and the rate of diseases detection is low as well. b) There is very wide coverage of health records for residents in Xinjin county, nearly universal coverage. c) The health records for the chronic disease patients were well-established, but the early detection rate of the chronic diseases is low. d) High proportion of the patients with mental disorders is supervised. e) The strategy that only county-level hospitals could provide obstetrical service instead of township hospitals is successful to reduce the neonatal mortality and maternal mortality. However, the cesarean section rate is high. f) It acts, to some extent, as a model to successfully improve the essential public health service and management based on the conuty-wide healthcare information system. However, the data quality, data mining and data utilization should be further improved
ObjectiveTo investigate primary healthcare workers' knowledge, attitude and behaviour, and explore the way of guidelines' popularization, application and surveillance mechanism in primary healthcare institutions. MethodsHealthcare workers in seven township hospitals in Gaolan county, Gansu province were given a questionnaire to test their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour regarding Clinical practice guidelines. ResultsAmong the 143 distributed questionnaires, 143 valid were retrieved. The results showed that 80% of respondents knew the guidelines and 51% had used guidelines in treatment, 32% obtained guidelines mainly through distribution by affiliations. The most popular type of guidelines was self-developed by native departments. Respondents (37%) considered difficult availability of guidelines major barriers to popularization, 74% failed to receive training about guidelines, 88% looked forward to special organizations in charge of disseminating guidelines and conducting related training on how to apply guidelines. ConclusionPrimary healthcare workers report low awareness of, attention to and compliance with clinical practice guidelines. The greatest challenge for guidelines' popularization in township hospitals is difficult availability and it is of vital importance for primary institutions to enhance guidelines' implementation and strengthen learning and conduct training.