Study on Traditional Chinese Medicine Service Capacity and Delivery Efficiency of Village Clinic in a District of Beijing postprint

Abstract: Background　As a unique medical resource in China，Traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）has palyed an essential role in maintaining population health. However，facing the growing health demands，some problems of TCM at the grassroots become prominent，such as the unbalanced and inadequate development of TCM and the weak service capacity of TCM. Therefore，it is crutial to improve the rural TCM service system for rural revitalization and the construction of a healthy China. Objective　To explore and evaluate the medical service capacity and efficiency of 394 village clinics in a district of Beijing，analyze the existing problems in the development of TCM，and provide reasonable suggestions for further promoting the development of TCM in village clinics. Methods　First，descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the TCM provision capacity of the village clinic in 2019，including TCM related human，material and financial resources and services. Then， data envelopment analysis was employed to calculate the overall efficiency，pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency of the villiage clinic. The human resources and hardware construction were regared as input indicators，and capital return and service volume as output indicators. The comprehensive efficiency，technical efficiency and scale efficiency of the village clinic were calculated. Results　Overall，394 village clinics in this district provided TCM services in 2019. There were 45 rural doctors mainly practicing TCM，471 sets of TCM diagnosis and treatment equipment. The income of Chinese herbal medicine and Chinese patent medicine was 1.224 5 and 34.161 9 million yuan，respectively. The number of TCM treatments was 64 716 times. Based on data envelopment analysis，264 village clinics were in a state of increasing return to scale，13 village clinics were in a state of decreasing return to scale，and only 7 village clinics were in a state of effective allocation of TCM resources. Besides，there were regional differences in the efficiency of TCM service among townships，towns and streets. Conclusion　The village clinics in this district have some problems，including inadequate TCM rural doctors，insufficient TCM related equipment，evident disparities in medical income，and low efficiency of TCM service provision. Among them，the problem of scale efficiency is particularly prominent，which has become a key factor restricting the improvement of TCM service efficiency，resulting in the slow development of TCM in the region. These problems might be solved by a series of measures，such as enlarging TCM talents， optimizing the allocation of TCM relaed equipments，improving the health compensation mechanism，and strengthening the distinctive advantages of TCM，and then TCM in village clinics could devlelop with high-quality in the new era.