Studies of Product Structure Adjustment Routes for China’s Pharmaceutical Industry: A View From the New Healthcare Reform Targets

Abstract

Background

The 12th Five-Year Plan period is a critical period for the development of the pharmaceutical industry in China. A major focus coming with the New Healthcare Reform is a product structure adjustment in the pharmaceutical industry. Many researchers have been attracted in recent years to product structure adjustment studies.

Methods

An empirical analysis of resources of the New Healthcare Reform was conducted by employing clustering analysis. A panel data model was established, with independent variables consisting of the city residents’ medical insurance fund, drug fees per capita, city medical insurance fees per capita, rural medical insurance fees per capita, and number of people benefiting from the new rural cooperative medical scheme and the dependent variable being China’s medical technology advancement fees. This study covered 29 provinces and regions and used panel data from 2007 to June 2012 to establish a fundamental regression equation for quantitative analysis.

Results

The city residents’ medical insurance fund, rural medical insurance fees, and the new rural cooperative medical scheme are significant factors for pharmaceutical structure adjustment in China. The rural medical services market is the most important target market for pharmaceutical industrial transformation.

Conclusion

The fundamental drug system and medical insurance system, which the New Healthcare Reform focuses upon, are closely related to the pharmaceutical product structure. For entities in which structural adjustment is not autonomous, changes can be achieved through sound coordination between organizational structure, technical structure, and repeated evaluation of consistency of drug product quality and overseas technical license.