Do Primary Healthcare Facilities in More Remote Areas Provide More Medical Services? Spatial Evidence from Rural Western China

Chi Shen, Sha Lai, Qiwei Deng, Dan Cao, Dantong Zhao, Yaxin Zhao, Zhongliang Zhou (), Wanyue Dong and Xi Chen
Additional contact information
Chi Shen: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Sha Lai: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Qiwei Deng: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Dan Cao: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Dantong Zhao: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Yaxin Zhao: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Zhongliang Zhou: Xi’an Jiaotong University
Wanyue Dong: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine

No 16332, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Primary healthcare institutions (PHIs) in China have experienced a sizable decline in medical services in recent years. Despite the large regional disparities in China, there is a lack of evidence on the differential patterns of medical services offered by PHIs, especially from a spatial perspective. This study examines whether residents in more remote areas use more medical services offered by township healthcare centers (THCs), a main type of PHIs. Linking medical visits to 923 THCs in a western Chinese province in 2020 with the driving time and geographic coordinates from the Gaode map, a leading map navigation provider in China, we applied a multilevel linear model and a geographically weighted regression to examine spatial heterogeneity in medical service utilization. We showed that a one-hour increase in the shortest driving time between THCs and the local county hospitals was associated with an average 6% increase in THCs outpatient visits and a 0.6% increase in THCs inpatient visits. Our findings suggest that THCs located in more remote areas provided more medical services, especially outpatient services.

Keywords: primary healthcare institutions; spatial accessibility; disparities; medical service; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I14 I18 R53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 71 pages
Date: 2023-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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Published - published in: Health & Social Care in the Community , 2023, 6131486

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Working Paper: Do Primary Healthcare Facilities in More Remote Areas Provide More Medical Services? Spatial Evidence from Rural Western China (2023)
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