A Comprehensive Evaluation of China's TCM Medical Service System: An Empirical Research by Integrated Factor Analysis and TOPSIS

Abstract

Objectives: This paper constructs a comprehensive evaluation index of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) medical service system and summarizes the development of TCM medical services in China. Methods: We chose 31 provinces' TCM hospitals as research objects. The data were obtained from the Health Statistics Yearbook from 2013 to 2018 and from the National Statistics of Chinese Medicine from 2012 to 2017. The approaches to factor analysis and TOPSIS are used in this paper. It is found that the comprehensive evaluation indexes of the TCM medical service system can be divided into 4 first-level indicators and 14 second-level indicators. Results: The development of the TCM medical service system in China is unbalanced and inadequate. North China and East China are generally superior to Northwest and Southwest China in terms of revenue and expenditure for TCM medical services. The per capita of medical resources in the Southwest and Northwest are stronger than those in Central and South China, but overall medical resources are weaker than those in East China and North China. TCM medical service institutions in East China, South China and Central China have achieved better service results and higher economic benefits with less resource input, which further indicates the efficient allocation of resources and the balanced operation of TCM medical service institutions. Conclusion: The development of China's TCM medical service system shows the imbalance and inadequacy of "East is strong, West is weak" and "South is superior, North is inferior."

Keywords: Healthy China 2030; TOPSIS; factor analysis; health care system; medical reform; traditional Chinese medicine.