Harbin Medical University Reports Findings in Public Health (Perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system among the insured: a mixed methods research of a northern city in China): Health and Medicine – Public Health

2023 MAY 11 (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 from Harbin, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system among the insured not only reflect the system’s performance but also the public’s basic medical insurance policy literacy, valuable information for countries that have entered the stage of deepening reform. This study aims to examine the factors that affect the perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system in China, diagnose the key problems, and propose corresponding measures for improvement.”

Financial supporters for this research include National Natural Science Foundation of China, Heilongjiang Provincial Postdoctoral Science Foundation, National Social Science Fund of China.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Harbin Medical University, “A mixed method design was used. Data for the quantitative study were obtained from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey ( = 1,045) of residents of Harbin who had enrolled for basic medical insurance system. A quota sampling method was further adopted. A multivariate logistic regression model was then employed to identify the factors influencing the perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system, followed by semi-structured interviews with 30 conveniently selected key informants. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze the interview data. Approximately 44% of insured persons reported low perceptions of benefits. The logistic regression model showed that low perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system was positively correlated with the experience of daily drug purchases (OR = 1.967), perceptions of recognition with basic medical insurance system (OR = 1.948), perceptions of the financial burden of participation costs (OR = 1.887), perceptions of the convenience of using basic medical insurance for medical treatment (OR = 1.770), perceptions of the financial burden of daily drug purchases costs (OR = 1.721), perceptions of the financial burden of hospitalization costs (OR = 1.570), and type of basic medical insurance system (OR = 1.456). The results of the qualitative analysis showed that the key problem areas of perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system were: (I) system design of basic medical insurance; (II) intuitive cognition of the insured; (III) rational cognition of the insured; and (IV) the system environment.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Improving the perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system of the insured requires joint efforts in improving system design and implementation, exploring effective publicity methods of basic medical insurance system information, supporting public policy literacy, and promoting the health system environment.”

For more information on this research see: Perceptions of the benefits of the basic medical insurance system among the insured: a mixed methods research of a northern city in China. Frontiers in Public Health, 2023;11:1043153. Frontiers in Public Health can be contacted at: Frontiers Media Sa, Avenue Du Tribunal Federal 34, Lausanne, Ch-1015, Switzerland.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Shuyi Li, Dept. of Social Medicine, School of Health Management, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Peng Wang, Zhizhen Wang, Mingli Jiao, Yuchao Zhang, Weiqi Huang, Ning Ning, Lijun Gao, Linghan Shan, Ye Li and Qunhong Wu.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1043153. 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 Frontiers in Public Health is: Frontiers Media Sa, Avenue Du Tribunal Federal 34, Lausanne, Ch-1015, Switzerland.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)