In a bid to curb escalating drug expenses, Beijing’s healthcare system implemented the Medical-Pharmaceutical Separation (MPS) reform. This comprehensive study examines the reform’s effect on hospitalization costs and expenditure structure in tertiary public hospitals. By evaluating data from 18 hospitals over nearly six years, the research provides significant insights into the reform’s efficacy and its interaction with the Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) payment model.
The MPS reform in Beijing focused on reducing drug expenditure in tertiary public hospitals. Researchers utilized propensity score matching and multi-period difference-in-difference techniques to assess the reform’s impact on hospitalization costs. Monthly data from 18 out of 22 municipal tertiary hospitals, spanning from July 2011 to March 2017, were analyzed, totaling 1242 items.
Key Findings
The study revealed a 24.5% reduction in average drug expenditure per hospitalization following the MPS reform. Specifically, Western and Chinese drug expenditures decreased by 24.6% and 24.1%, respectively. Concurrently, the proportion of drug expenditure dropped by 4.5%, while the proportion of medical consumables expenditure rose by 2.7%.
These findings suggest that the reform successfully restructured hospitalization expenditures by cutting down on drug costs and slightly increasing spending on medical consumables. Moreover, the DRG payment model played a crucial role in controlling the rise in medical consumables expenditure post-reform.
Implications for Future Policy
The study underscores the importance of ongoing management of medical consumables to sustain the positive effects of the MPS reform. Additionally, it highlights the need to enhance the integration of MPS reform with the DRG payment system to ensure long-term optimization of hospitalization expenditure.
Concrete Inferences
– Implementing MPS reform can significantly reduce overall drug expenditure in hospitals.
– The DRG payment model can help moderate the increase in medical consumables expenditure.
– Effective management of medical consumables is crucial for maintaining the reform’s benefits over time.
The research concludes that the MPS reform has the potential to optimize hospitalization expenditure structures significantly. However, for sustained effectiveness, it is essential to continuously manage medical consumables and reinforce the linkage between MPS reform and DRG payment models. Future measures should focus on these areas to ensure the long-term success of the reform.
Original Article: Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2024 May 16;17:1263-1276. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S456953. eCollection 2024.

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