title: The impact of economic factors on treatment results for tumor inpatients in the under-developed Western region of China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To discuss the influences of economic factors on the treatment outcomes of cancer patients and the relaxation effects of medical insurance policies on the influences of economic factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  The concentration index (CI) and horizontal inequality (HI) of treatment outcomes of cancer patients were calculated and the role of the economy, disease, and other factors to HI was analyzed by describing the influence of treatment expense on the treatment outcomes of different cancer patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study showed that the equity of the death rate and the effective rate of six types of cancer patients was good. The HI of the cure rate was 0.225, indicating a strong, pro-rich inequity of the cancer inpatient cure rate, while the contribution of the economic factors to HI was 0.158. The uncured rate in the low-cost group represented the rate of patients who discontinued the treatment; the HI was -0.324, indicating a strong, pro-poor inequity. The relaxation effect on the HI of the cured rate by medical insurance was 14.9%, while the effect on the HI of the uncured rate was 18.7%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  At present, medical insurance has demonstrated relaxation effects on the fairness of treatment outcomes to some extent. The main reason for this inequity comes from the payment of the items at present. To relieve such inequity to a greater extent, the payment system should be changed and diagnosis-related groups should be implemented.
authors.affiliation: a a Department of HR , First Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an , PR China.
authors.forename: Jun-Xiu
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: b b School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Shaanxi , PR China.
authors.forename: Jian-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: a a Department of HR , First Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an , PR China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: a a Department of HR , First Affiliated Hospital, Medical College of Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an , PR China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D054625:Healthcare Disparities / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000191:economics
keywords: Cancer; Cure results of tumor inpatients; Equity of treatment results; Payment system