Analysis of the fairness of medical resource allocation in prefecture-level regions across the country: based on agglomeration degree method
10.3760/cma.j.cn111325-20241222-01078
- VernacularTitle:基于集聚度方法的我国各地级区域中医医疗资源配置公平性分析
- Author:
Fei HAN
1
;
Yang ZHAO
;
Ying SUN
;
Baojuan XUE
;
Junshu GE
;
Yuanyuan SU
Author Information
1. 北京中医药大学第三附属医院行风办，北京 100029
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Allocation of health resources;
Traditional Chinese Medicine medical resources;
Agglomeration degree;
Allocation fairness;
Prefecture-level city level
- From:
Chinese Journal of Hospital Administration
2025;41(4):289-293
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To systematically evaluate the fairness of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) healthcare resource allocation at the prefecture-level in China using the healthcare resource agglomeration degree (HRAD) method, so as to provide empirical evidence for optimizing resource distribution.Methods:Data on TCM healthcare resources (including the number of TCM institutions, public TCM hospitals, TCM hospital beds, and TCM healthcare technicians) were collected from 333 prefecture-level regions in 2023. The HRAD method was employed to assess fairness in geographic allocation (HRAD i) and population-based allocation (HRAD i/PAD i). A multi-indicator comprehensive evaluation was conducted using the entropy weight method to determine weighting coefficients. Results:Significant disparities were observed in the geographic agglomeration of TCM resources (HRAD i) in China. Resource-rich regions (HRAD i>5) were primarily concentrated in eastern and some central-western provinces, while resource-scarce regions (HRAD i<1) were mainly distributed in western, northeastern, and parts of central and eastern provinces. Analysis of population-based fairness (HRAD i/PAD i) revealed that most prefecture-level cities nationwide had ratios<1, with only 8 provinces having more cities with ratios>1 than<1. The comprehensive evaluation showed that top-ranked cities in the east (e.g., Hangzhou, Dongying, Shenzhen), central region (e.g., Taiyuan, Zhengzhou), and west (e.g., Hainan Prefecture, Alxa League) were predominantly core cities or sparsely populated areas. Conclusions:China′s prefecture-level TCM healthcare resource allocation exhibits significant geographic and population-based inequities, with excessive concentration in provincial capitals and developed cities. Urgent strategies are needed to optimize resource allocation, enhance fairness and accessibility, including promoting the decentralization of high-quality resources, strengthening regional collaborative support, enhancing talent attraction in underdeveloped areas, and leveraging information technology to improve efficiency.
