Constructing a value-based healthcare system for hypertensive patients through changing payment mode: evidence from a comparative study in rural China

Objective: To construct a value-based healthcare system for rural Chinese hypertensive patients through an increasing outpatient care reimbursement ratio. Methods: This comparative study sampled two similar counties, Dangyang County and Zhijiang County, in Hubei Province of China, as the intervention group and the control group, respectively. The Social Health Insurance Fund of the intervention group budgeted 600 yuan per capita per year to insured patients with third stage hypertension to cover their outpatient expenditures, while the outpatient expenditures of the control group were not covered by its Social Health Insurance Fund. The inpatient expenditure reimbursement policies in both groups were not adjusted during the study. Value improvement in this study was defined as reduction in medical costs and improvement in health outcomes within the pilot healthcare system. A propensity score matching model combined with a difference-in-differences model was used to estimate the changes in medical costs and health outcomes. Results: In total, 1,673 pairs of patients were enrolled into statistical analysis after the propensity score matching. The intervention increased per capita annual outpatient expenditure by 81.2 (+31.8%) yuan (p > .05), but decreased the per capita annual inpatient expenditure and total medical expenditure by 475.4 (–40.7%) yuan and 394.2 (–27.7%) yuan, respectively (p p p p p > .05). Conclusion: Increasing the outpatient expenditures, the reimbursement ratio was beneficial to the value of the healthcare system for hypertensive patients. Outpatient care for patients with chronic diseases should be prioritized for rural China and healthcare settings with inadequate health insurance funds.