ObjectiveTo analyze the limitations and challenges for the use of real-world data in the decision making of drug reimbursement through literature review and provide standard process and guideline for the real-world study supporting drug reimbursement. MethodsBy summarizing the relevant policies, regulations, and guiding principles of major drug regulatory agencies worldwide, the study analyzed the applicable conditions, framework, and reimbursement mode for using real-world evidence in the decision making of drug reimbursement. ResultsThe study found that the health technology assessment departments of major developed countries and Asian countries have used real -world evidence to evaluate the drug efficacy and safety. The application scope of real-world data for reimbursement decision included describing the treatment process of the disease, assessing economic burden, verifying economic models, and evaluating the efficacy and safety of drugs. Some developed countries including the United Kingdom and the United States had released guidelines or frameworks of the real-world study for reimbursement decision. The process and framework of using real-world data in reimbursement decision could be divided into three models: coverage with evidence development, outcome-based contract, and re-assessment. ConclusionReal-world data has been widely used in the process of health technology assessment. To adapt to the development of the pharmaceutical industry and to meet the needs of clinical patients, it is urgent to standardize the process of collecting real-world data and formulate the scope and process of using real-world data in the reimbursement process.
The shortage of health workforce in rural and remote areas has been commonly concerned by every country around the word. It is one of world health issues, challenging the aspirations of achieving equity. In this regard, WHO developed the Global Policy Recommendations to improve the accessibility of the health workforce in rural and remote areas through improved retention. This article focuses on the key steps of the policy guideline developed from evidence-based medicine methodology and from angle of guideline development, mainly about background, issues, evidence retrieval and selection, quality grading of evidence, and the forming of recommendation plan, in order to further explore how to correctly understand, obtain, evaluate and apply currently available research evidence, and how to use the GRADE system to make scientific and feasible recommendations in the decision-making process, emphasizing the importance of evidence and the GRADE system in the evidence-based health decision-making.
Objective To systematically review and conclude the healthcare reform policy in rural China throughout the past 62 years. Methods This study was applied with PICOS structure to formulate research issues. National/ministry policies and documents on healthcare reform in rural China were systematically collected. The primary healthcare issues and healthcare reform measures carried out at each stage were studied, and, the criteria as population healthcare indicators, indicators for healthcare workforce and infrastructure in rural areas, healthcare expenditure indicators, and the results of national surveys for healthcare service were used to evaluate the reform performance achieved at each stage. Results A total 396 national policies on healthcare reform in rural China were included through comprehensive search. In accordance with the results of quantitative analysis on literatures, characteristics of economy system reform at each stage as well as actual advancement on healthcare reform, the reform courses of healthcare system in rural China in this study were divided into six periods as follows: national economy recovery and adjustment period, cultural revolution period, early stage of economy system transition, initial stage of healthcare reform, middle stage of healthcare reform, and implement stage for new rural cooperative medical system (NRCMS). The average policies of each period increased year by year, which generally showed as features as laying more emphasis on medical services than medicine, and thinking little of medical insurance. The population health indicators, sickbeds per thousand rural population and medical practitioners kept improving gradually. Yet the import of market mechanism and influence of international economy condition led to the decline in public welfare of healthcare system, increase of personal expenditure proportion among general healthcare cost, and duplicate content among some polices.Conclusion Commonwealth orientation is the fundamental principal to fulfill healthcare service system, thus performance on policies should be concluded in combination with the present national conditions, future requirements as well as evidence-based policy-making, and additionally, such performance should be improved during implementation.
In the context of actively coping with aging, China has introduced a series of health care integration policies. Using the advocacy coalition framework theory, this paper aims to analyze the process of health care integration policy changes in China from three dimensions: policy beliefs, external events and policy learning. The policy subsystem of health care integration in China includes two coalitions: top-down cascade promotion and bottom-up absorption and radiation. External events and policy learning triggered policy change, where policy learning included endogenous learning within the coalition and exogenous learning between the coalitions. A policy impasse occurs when the two advocacy coalitions are at odds, and policy brokers and professional forums can get rid of the policy impasse. In the process of policy change in China’s health care integration, the two major advocacy coalitions have reached a certain consensus. It is recommended to alleviate the problems in the integration of health care by strengthening the external factors in the change of health care policy, enhancing the policy learning in the change of health care policy, and making full use of the information resources in the change of health care policy, so as to promote the high-quality development of the integration of health care.
In order to promote the harmonization of decision-making processes in public health and the harmonization of decision-making criteria, McMaster University in Canada and the Estonian Health Insurance Fund jointly published an article on an evidence ecosystem for health decision-making in 2022 with the support of the World Health Organization. Based on the proposed health decision-making evidence ecosystem model of the article, this paper interpreted the processes and elements in the model, aiming to provide reference for evidence-based public health decision making in China.
Informed-evidence decision-making (IEDM) has emerged as the predominant principle of providing guidance for policy-making and practice, however, the best available evidences requisite of performing successfully IEDM. Different forms of evidence and different kinds of review questions call for the development of new approaches that are designed to more effectively and rigorously identify and synthesize the evidence. Fourteen methods of reviewing literature have been recently used to identify and synthesize evidence, of which scoping reviews is increasing popular. This article introduces aspects such as background, purpose and methodological frame work and explains the process of it with an example so that facilitating the dissemination and utilization of scoping review in China.
China has accumulated abundant experience on how to deal with post-disaster mental problem in recent years. However, the relevant concepts about post-disaster mental health services, detailed contents and process of the services were still incomplete. In order to provide guidance for the implementation of post-disaster mental health services, optimize service process, and improve service experience, the development of management practice of post-disaster mental health service is warranted. The authors give some suggestions on developing the management practice.
Objective To analyse the content and structure of the health management policy text for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in China, and to provide a reference for the optimization and improvement of subsequent relevant policies. Methods We searched for relevant policy documents on COPD health management at the national level from January 2017 to December 2023, constructed a two-dimensional analysis framework for policy tools and chronic disease health management processes, coded and classified policy texts, and used content analysis method to analyze policy texts. Results Twenty-four policy texts were included. There were 183 codes for policy tool dimension, with supply based, environmental based, and demand based tools accounting for 43.72%, 47.54%, and 8.74%, respectively. There were 124 codes for the dimension of health management processes, with health information collection and management accounting for 12.10%, risk prediction accounting for 14.52%, intervention and treatment accounting for 66.13%, and follow-up and effectiveness evaluation accounting for 7.26%. Conclusions At present, the proportion of policy tools related to the management of COPD in China needs to be dynamically adjusted. Environmental tools should be appropriately reduced, the internal structure of supply tools should be optimized, the driving effect of demand tools should be comprehensively enhanced, the coupling of COPD health management processes should be strengthened, and the relevant policy system and overall quality should be continuously improved.
Comorbidity is a prominent public health problem in the elderly population. To carry out research on the comorbidity of the elderly is not only an important breakthrough to realize the national strategy of actively responding to the aging population, but also a vivid practice of earnestly implementing the "Healthy China" and other action programs. Based on the major public health issues of elderly comorbidity, this paper lists the main contents and methods of elderly comorbidity research from the perspective of secondary research and empirical research, and holds that this field contains both the profound thought of "holistic concept" and the advanced idea of "integrative medicine". At the same time, under the background of the new era, the gradual deepening of the research in this field may give birth to a brand-new discipline - geriatric comorbidity.
Objective The modification of Chinese patent medicines (CPM) instructions is currently the focus of national drug regulation, with policies and regulations being established. Nevertheless, the policies pertaining to CPM instructions have not been thoroughly investigated. This study analyzes the direction and current issues with existing policy items to give a reference for future optimization and adjustment of policies linked to CPM instructions. Methods The official website of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and National Health Commission (NHC) were searched to collect policy documents related to the CPM instructions issued at the national level in China from January 1st 2000 to June 1st 2024. Based on the classification of policy tools (supply-based policy tools, demand-based policy tools, environment-based policy tools) and the dimension of policy development (policy planning, policy implementation, policy supervision, and policy evaluation ), a two-dimensional analytical framework of "policy tools and policy process" was constructed by using the content analysis method and the quantitative analysis method, and policy documents were analyzed. Results The 27 policy texts included in the analysis generated 104 policy entries in total, wherein, environment-based policy tools (74.04%) were used the most in the dimension of policy tools, followed by demand-based policy tools (24.04%) and supply-based policy tools (1.92%). In the dimension of policy development, policy planning tools, policy implementation tools, policy supervision tools, and policy evaluation tools accounted for 24.04%, 52.88%, 17.31%, and 5.77%, respectively. An in-depth analysis of the content of the policy entries discovered that the existing policy took into account the specification of the content of the instruction and the standardization of the expression of writing, the instruction application guidance, etc, and more and more attention was being paid to the content of the characteristics of TCM in the instruction. Conclusion Currently, there is an insufficient amount of policy documents on CPM standards, which are overly focused on environment-based policy tools and the policy implementation process. To achieve the policy goal of regulating and applying CPM specifications, it is recommended to create a balanced and coordinated structure of policy instruments, emphasise the direct promotion and pulling effect of supply and demand, increase the weight of policy evaluation and supervision, and develop a standard system for evaluating CPM specifications.