The Impacts of National Centralized Drug Procurement Policy on Drug Utilization and Drug Expenditures: The Case of Shenzhen, China

Lei Chen, Ying Yang, Mi Luo, Borui Hu, Shicheng Yin and Zongfu Mao
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Lei Chen: School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, 115# Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Ying Yang: School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, 115# Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Mi Luo: School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, 115# Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Borui Hu: School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, 115# Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Shicheng Yin: School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, 115# Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Zongfu Mao: School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, 115# Donghu Road, Wuhan 430071, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-11

Abstract: In 2019, the Chinese government implemented the first round of the National Centralized Drug Procurement (NCDP) pilot (so-called “4 + 7” policy) in mainland China, in which 25 drugs were included. We conducted this study to examine the impacts of NCDP policy on drug utilization and expenditures, and to clarify the main factors contributing to drug expenditure changes. This study used drug purchasing order data from the Centralized Drug Procurement Survey in Shenzhen 2019. Drugs related to the “4 + 7” policy were selected as study samples, including 23 “4 + 7” policy-related varieties and 15 basic alternative drugs. Driving factors for drug expenditures changes were analyzed using A.M. index system analysis (Addis A. & Magrini N.’ method). After the implementation of the NCDP policy, the volume of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties increased by 73.8%, among which winning products jumped by 1638.2% and non-winning products dropped by 70.8%; the expenditures of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties decreased by 36.9%. Structure effects (0.47) and price effects (0.78) negatively contributed to the increase in drug expenditures of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties, while volume effects (1.73) had positive influence. NCDP policy successfully decreased drug expenditures of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties with structure effects playing a leading role. However, total drug expenditures were not effectively controlled due to the increasing use of alternative drugs.

Keywords: National Centralized Drug Procurement policy; “4 + 7”; volume-based procurement; drug utilization; drug expenditures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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