Current Situation And Countermeasure Of Village Clinics Standardization In Dingxing County

Due to the inequality in distribution of urban and rural medical resources, there is a large gap in medical facilities and medical services between the countryside and towns. In order to make health care more affordable and accessible for all citizens, the new medical reform policy was formulated in 2009, which clearly demanded to improve the local medical service system, develop the availability of good medical care, and establish a standardized village clinic in each village. Under this backdrop, Hebei provincial government began to follow the new medical reform policy and enhance the construction of standardized village clinics since 2012. Dingxing County has been chosen as a pilot area to carry out the reform, in which one standardized village clinic is established for each village.This research made an investigation into the current situation of standardized village clinics through field trip, questionnaires and interviews. The results showed that Dingxing County had accumulated some experience in the construction and management of standardized village clinics. For example, a functional system was established; officials of towns and villages exerted great influence; medical resources were adjusted in distribution to promote integrated management of medical service; moral standards were emphasized to improve medical services of standardized village clinics. However, some problems have also arisen during the prior-preparation, operation and post-management stages of village clinics, for example, improper layout, underfunding, improper structure of investment, and underdevelopment of integrated management, etc. Therefore, this thesis aims to analyze these problems based on the theories and principles of public goods, fiscal decentralization and public management, and then propose corresponding solutions in the aspects of government fund-raising, decision-making and administration, which hopefully can provide some enlightenment for the future development of standardized village clinics.