title: [Impact of primary care oriented outpatient benefit package design in new rural cooperative medical system on hypertension outpatient services utilization].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the impact of primary care oriented outpatient benefits package design of outpatient services coverage and ladder reimbursement of county, town and village levels in the new rural cooperative medical system (NRCMs) on hypertension outpatient services utilization.
  
  
  METHODS
  The panel data of treatment and control groups in 2009 and 2011 before and after the policy reform were drawn from the household survey data of the innovative payment system project. The difference in difference (DID) method was used for data analysis. The outcome indicators included the utilization of outpatient services of patients with self-reported hypertension and their main treatment locations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The primary care oriented outpatient benefit package design in the NRCMs reduced the probability of no treatment in the latest three months of hypertension by 10.2 percent points. Meanwhile, it increased the probability of choosing village clinic as the preferred location by 15.7 percent points.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Primary care oriented outpatient benefits package design lead patients with hypertension to use the nearest outpatient services at low risk of disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Administration, Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Shu-nv
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Administration, Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Wei-yan
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Jian
authors.affiliation: Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford,Oxford OX1 4JJ, UK.
authors.forename: Winnie C-M
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Administration, Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000628:therapy*; D010045:Outpatients; D011320:Primary Health Care; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012424:Rural Population