Harbin Medical University Reports Findings in Public Health (Factors and key problems influencing insured’s poor perceptions of convenience of basic medical insurance: a mixed methods research of a northern city in China): Health and Medicine – Public Health

2023 JUN 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Health and Medicine - Public Health is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Harbin, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “This study aimed to explore the factors that affect insured’s perceptions of convenience of the basic medical insurance (PCBMI) in Harbin, China and to diagnose the key problems to further propose corresponding measures. The findings provide evidence-based support for the reform of convenience of the basic medical insurance system (BMIS) and the cultivation of public literacy.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Harbin Medical University, “We adopted a mixed methods design composing a multivariate regression model using the data from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey (n = 1045) of residents who were enrolled for BMIS in Harbin to identify the factors influencing the PCBMI. A quota sampling method was further adopted. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with 30 important information providers selected by convenience sampling. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to summarize and analyze the key problems. Overall, approximately 51% of respondents reported poor PCBMI. The logistic regression model showed that insured without outpatient experience within two weeks (OR = 2.522, 95% CI = 1.267-5.024), had poorer levels of understanding of basic medical insurance information (OR = 2.336, 95% CI = 1.612-3.386), lived in rural areas (OR = 1.819, 95% CI = 1.036-3.195), had low levels of annual out-of-pocket medical expenses (OR = 1.488, 95% CI = 1.129-1.961), and were more likely to give the PCBMI a worse evaluation than their counterparts. The results of the qualitative analysis showed that the key problem areas of the PCBMI were the design of the BMIS, the cognitive biases of the insured, publicity information about the BMIS, and the health system environment. This study found that in addition to the design of BMIS, the cognition of the insured, the BMIS information publicity and the health system environment are also the key problems hindering PCBMI. While optimizing system design and implementation, Chinese policymakers need to focus on the insured with low PCBMI characteristics.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Moreover, it is necessary to focus on exploring effective BMIS information publicity methods, supporting public policy literacy and improving the health system environment.”

For more information on this research see: Factors and key problems influencing insured’s poor perceptions of convenience of basic medical insurance: a mixed methods research of a northern city in China. BMC Public Health, 2023;23(1):1066. BMC Public Health can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Public Health - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Lixia Cheng, Dept. of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Peng Wang, Ye Li, Yuchao Zhang, Weiqi Huang, Shuyi Li, Zhizhen Wang, Linghan Shan, Mingli Jiao and Qunhong Wu.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15993-1. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the journal BMC Public Health is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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