SynthesisHealth policy and planning2024
Effects of vertical integration on the healthcare system in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Health policy and planning, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Can integrated care interventions strengthen primary care and improve outcomes for patients with chronic diseases? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Health research policy and systems · 2025Pooled it
- Bridging the perception-practice gap: a mixed-methods study on interprofessional collaboration for diabetes and periodontitis management.BMC oral health · 2026Article
- Impact of integrated care models on inpatient costs and health services efficiency: evidence from a difference-in-differences analysis in China.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- The perceived impacts of United States foreign development assistance reductions on health system building blocks at healthcare facilities in Zambia: A mixed-methods study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Association of DRG-based payment reform with inpatient costs and resource use among older adults: an interrupted time series study in a county-level referral hospital in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Constructing a disease management journey map from the acute decompensated heart failure journey perspective: a descriptive qualitative study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Mammography attendance in China's national breast cancer screening program: a county-level analysis of the Fujian province.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- [Policy objectives and tools for the construction of Chinese Medical Consortium: A quantitative study based on policy texts].Beijing da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Peking University. Health sciences · 2025Article
- Development and validation of the Chinese patient-centered integrated care scale.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Does vertical integration increase the costs for primary care inpatients? Evidence from a national pilot programme in China.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
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- The "Iron Triangle" of Healthcare Services: Evaluating an Integrated Healthcare Alliance's Impact on Primary Care in Shenzhen, China.International journal of integrated careArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Vertical integration is one possible way to improve the performance of a healthcare system; however, its effects are inconsistent, and there is a lack of evidence from undeveloped nations. This study aims to systematically review the evidence regarding effects of vertical integration on healthcare systems in China. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ProQuest Health & Medicine Collection, China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database and Wanfang databases from April 2009 (initiation of new healthcare reform) to May 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs), controlled before and after (CBA) trials, cohort studies and interrupted time series (ITS) trials. Vertical integration in the included studies must involve both primary health institutions and secondary or tertiary hospitals. After screening 3109 records, we ultimately analysed 47 studies, including 27 CBA trials, 18 RCTs and 2 ITS trials. The narrative synthesis shows that all but three studies indicated that vertical integration improved efficiency (utilization and cost of health services), quality of public health services and medical services, health provider-centred outcomes (knowledge and skill) and patient-centred outcomes (patients' clinical outcomes, behaviour and satisfaction). Despite the heterogeneity of vertical integration interventions across different studies, the meta-analysis reveals that it lowered diastolic blood pressure (mean difference (MD) -8.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) -15.18 to -1.65) and systolic blood pressure (MD-5.83, 95% CI -9.25 to -2.40) among hypertension patients, and it lowered HbA1c levels (MD -1.95, 95% CI -2.69 to -1.21), fasting blood glucose levels (MD -1.02, 95% CI -1.53 to -0.50) and 2-hour postprandial blood glucose levels (MD -1.78, 95% CI -2.67 to -0.89). The treatment compliance behaviour was improved for hypertension participants (risk ratio (RR) 1.08, 95% CI 1.04-1.13) and for diabetes patients (RR 1.32, 95% CI 1.08-1.61). Vertical integration in China can improve efficiency, quality of care, health provider-centred outcomes and patient-centred outcomes, but high-quality original studies are highly needed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.