ArticleBMC public health2020
The effects of pricing policy on the prices and supply of low-cost medicines in Shandong, China: evidence from an interrupted time series analysis.
Article in BMC public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Time series analysis of the new tiering pricing policy for generic medicines in South Korea.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Analysis of adverse reactions and cost-driving factors during the induction phase of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Longitudinal Trends in Medicine Supply, Price and Utilisation in Primary Care Facilities in Rural Southwestern China Under National Essential Medicines Policy (2012-2017): Disparities Across Facilities and Medicines.International journal of health policy and management · 2025Article
- Whether medicine supply is really meeting primary health care needs: a mixed-methods study in Shandong Province, China.Global health research and policy · 2024Article
- Has the Volume-Based Drug Purchasing Approach Achieved Equilibrium among Various Stakeholders? Evidence from China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Disparities in economic burden for children with leukemia insured by resident basic medical insurance: evidence from real-world data 2015-2019 in Guangdong, China.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Trends in accessibility of negotiated targeted anti-cancer medicines in Nanjing, China: An interrupted time series analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Impact of the Low-Price Medicine Policy on Medicine Supply in China: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Article
- Survey and analysis of the availability and affordability of essential drugs in Hefei based on WHO / HAI standard survey methods.BMC public health · 2020Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundIn China, some medicines had a supply problem. In 2015, to address this problem, the Chinese government issued a policy to raise the price cap for some shorted low-cost medicines (LCMs). The objective was to assess the effects on medicine prices and supply of medicines from a medicine pricing policy reform point of view.
methodsThis study was conducted in Shandong, an eastern province of China with a population of 99.4 million. We collected procurement data of all (n = 1494) LCM medicines available between April 2014 and February 2017 from the web-based Provincial Drug Centralized Bidding Procurement System. This study used the Drug Price index and the average price to reveal the price change of LCMs and used the interrupted time series to evaluate the effects of LCM policy on medicine supply by measuring the change of monthly procurement volume, the number of products, and the average delivery time of LCMs.
resultsAfter the policy implementation in October 2015, the quarterly average price of all LCM products, especially traditional Chinese medicines, showed a sudden growth trend. Then after two-quarter implementation of policy, the price recovered to the same trend before policy intervention, which is consistent with the trend of the Drug price index. There were 466 of LCM products available in October 2015. After the policy intervention, the number of products available increased by 109.87% (n = 978) in February 2017, at a growth rate of 6.44% per month (Value = 30.02, P < 0.001). Besides after the intervention in October 2015, the monthly procurement volumes of LCMs increased rapidly, on average, at a rate of 28.93% per month (Value = 474,000, P < 0.001) for all LCMs. The average delivery time of LCMs kept on decreasing from 33.37 days to 10.69 days at a reduced rate of 3.63% (Value = - 1.21, P < 0.001) per month before the policy, while no significant changes were noted. Also, average monthly delivery time was stable at 9 days after the intervention.
conclusionsThe policy promoted the supply of low-cost medicines, which is beneficial for the Universal Health Coverage. However, future policies should focus on monitoring price change and reducing the delivery time of generic medicines.
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