Literature analysis on the implementation effect of family physicians contracted service policy in China

Abstract

Objective To study the implementation effects of China′s contracted service policy for family physicians. Methods Systematic evaluation method was used to extract, describe and analyze the literature information of the research on the implementation effect of family physicians contracted service policy. Results A total of 80 papers of four types were rounded up, including 47 on the effect of health management on patients with chronic diseases, 11 on the effect of health management on the elderly, 15 on the effect on the first diagnosis in the community, and 7 on the effect on the control of medical expenses.The research is mostly distributed in the developed areas in the east.The family physicians contracted service promotes the health management effect of patients with chronic diseases and the elderlies, improves the first visit ratio of residents at their community, and effectively controls the medical expenses.Existing research shows that such a service has achieved initial success.However, the research also identified such common problems as the shortage and low competence of family physicians, low quality, resource integration and inadequate policy publicity. Conclusions The contracted service policy in China has begun to play the role of " health gatekeeper" and " cost gatekeeper" to some extent.It is suggested to strengthen the training of general practitioners, establish and perfect incentive mechanism, and improve the construction of information platform, while the implementation effect of contracted services for family physicians deserve further study in a broader scope, deeper level and design specifications. Key words: Family physicians; Contracted service; Implementation effect; Literature review