Towards a more effective healthcare regulation system in China

The three foremost goals of China's health care reforms are to provide universal access to basic medical care, control costs, and improve medical care quality. As reports of patient dissatisfaction with escalating costs and poor quality of health care service intensify, the role of the government in regulating health care activities to correct market and government failures in health care is becoming increasingly important. Currently, however, the regulatory structure is flawed by the absence of legislation and rules in regulating supply-side and demand-side behaviors as well as the ineffectiveness of government regulatory enforcement mechanisms. Based on a review of the literature, secondary data analysis and an analysis of existing health care regulation, this paper will provide a comprehensive assessment of the major problems of and policy options for reforming China's health care regulatory system. Specifically, we focus our review on the regulation of inputs to the health care system, including the regulation of facilities, medicines, human resources and equipment. Using a framework to analyze the regulation process of health care provision, we examine what should be regulated and what mechanisms should be used to regulate the above inputs to China's health care system. We propose systematic reforms of China's health care regulatory system to facilitate achievement of greater accessibility, improved quality, and enhanced efficiency. Lessons from China's experience can be used to inform health care regulatory reforms globally.