TY - JOUR
T1 - Does a medical consortium influence health outcomes of hospitalized cancer patients? An integrated care model in Shanxi, China
AU - Cai, Miao
AU - Liu, Echu
AU - Tao, Hongbing
AU - Qian, Zhengmin
AU - Fu, Qiang John
AU - Lin, Xiaojun
AU - Wang, Manli
AU - Xu, Chang
AU - Ni, Ziling
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 71473099).
Funding Information:
The authors thank the China Scholarship Council for supporting the first author’s visit to the Department of Health Management and Policy at Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri. We also thank the Health and Family Planning Commission in Shanxi for providing us with the data used in this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/4/1
Y1 - 2018/4/1
N2 - Objective: To assess the effect of the medical consortium policy on the outcomes of cancer patients admitted to secondary hospitals in Shanxi, China. Method: Electronic medical records of lung cancer (n = 8,193), stomach cancer (n = 5,693) and esophagus cancer (n = 2,802) patients hospitalized in secondary hospitals were used. Propensity score matching was used to match each patient enrolled in medical consortium hospitals with a counterpart admitted in non-medical consortium hospitals. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio of patients enrolled different categories of hospitals. Results: The hazards of lung, stomach and esophageal cancer patients admitted in medical consortium hospitals were consistently and significantly lower than those admitted in non-medical consortium hospitals after adjusting for a number of potential confounders. Lower hazard ratios were associated with lung (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.533, p < 0.001), stomach (HR = 0.494, p < 0.001), and esophagus (HR = 0.505, p < 0.001) cancer patients in medical consortium hospitals. Conclusion: The medical consortium provides an effective strategy to improve the outcomes of cancer patients in Shanxi, China. The partnerships between top-tier hospitals and grassroots medical services bridge the gap in resources and plays a critical role in the quality of care in China.
AB - Objective: To assess the effect of the medical consortium policy on the outcomes of cancer patients admitted to secondary hospitals in Shanxi, China. Method: Electronic medical records of lung cancer (n = 8,193), stomach cancer (n = 5,693) and esophagus cancer (n = 2,802) patients hospitalized in secondary hospitals were used. Propensity score matching was used to match each patient enrolled in medical consortium hospitals with a counterpart admitted in non-medical consortium hospitals. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio of patients enrolled different categories of hospitals. Results: The hazards of lung, stomach and esophageal cancer patients admitted in medical consortium hospitals were consistently and significantly lower than those admitted in non-medical consortium hospitals after adjusting for a number of potential confounders. Lower hazard ratios were associated with lung (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.533, p < 0.001), stomach (HR = 0.494, p < 0.001), and esophagus (HR = 0.505, p < 0.001) cancer patients in medical consortium hospitals. Conclusion: The medical consortium provides an effective strategy to improve the outcomes of cancer patients in Shanxi, China. The partnerships between top-tier hospitals and grassroots medical services bridge the gap in resources and plays a critical role in the quality of care in China.
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U2 - 10.5334/ijic.3588
DO - 10.5334/ijic.3588
M3 - Article
C2 - 30127691
AN - SCOPUS:85047512855
VL - 18
JO - International Journal of Integrated Care
JF - International Journal of Integrated Care
SN - 1568-4156
IS - 2
M1 - 7
ER -
