Stanford University

Patient Preferences, Concerns, and Satisfaction with Providers before the Chinese Urban Health System Reform: A Social Groups Analysis

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Many Chinese express dissatisfaction with their healthcare system with the popular phrase Kan bing nan, kan bing gui (“medical treatment is difficult to access and expensive”). Critics have cited inefficiencies in delivery and poor quality of services.  Determining the pattern of patient satisfaction with health services in China—and the causes of patient dissatisfaction—may help to improve health care not only in China but in countries in similar predicaments throughout the world.

Using data from a sample of 5,036 residents from 17 provinces collected in a 2008 household survey by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, we analyze the patterns of patient preferences, concerns, and satisfaction among six social groups, classified by socioeconomic status including education level, income, and type of employment.

From regression results we conclude that the gap between what patients predict their service will entail and what they perceive the service actually did entail is the key determinant of lower satisfaction, especially for patients who care most about the quality of service and patients with higher social positions. Patients from lower social groups are more concerned with price and the attitudes of medical professionals, and generally express higher satisfaction with their health care experiences than their wealthier peers, despite receiving lower-level services. Patients with higher social positions are more concerned with the technical competence and quality of providers, and struggle with what they perceive as a lack of freedom to purchase and receive their desired services, as well as long waiting times and poor physician-patient interactions. These patterns of patient satisfaction appear to be the consequence of China’s unreliable basic delivery system, lack of advanced health service supply, and distorted health market. We discuss how what we have learned about patients’ dissatisfaction can be used to restructure the delivery system to better meet and shape patients’ needs.

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Asia Health Policy Program working paper #17
Authors
Qunhong Shen

Tobacco-control efforts in China and beyond: Recent work of AHPP faculty affiliate Matthew Kohrman

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Matthew Kohrman
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In the past year, AHPP faculty affiliate Matthew Kohrman published in the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health a critical assessment of international anti-tobacco interventions. He has also been quoted in Science, Harvard Global Health Review, and Stanford University News regarding tobacco-control efforts in China and around the world.
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Inside North Korea

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This lecture will describe North Korea as seen from the inside - its people, their aspirations and fears, and what it is like to live amongst them.

With frequent appearances on BBC discussing North Korea, Mr. Everard, former British Ambassador to North Korea, 2006-2008, brings extensive knowledge of North Korea, China and South America to APARC.  He served as British Ambassador to Uruguay in 2001-2005, and was head of the Political Section in Beijing 2000-2001.  He was responsible for political relations with the troubled states of West Africa and managed mutinational efforts to restore democracy to Bosnia, 1995-1998.  He became the youngest British Ambassador to Belarus in 1993.

During his fellowship at the Asia-Pacific Research Center, Mr. Everard will hold seminars related to his research project on North Korean life and society and will be involved in various projects on Korea.  He is also a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Asia Research Centre of London School of Economics.

Mr. Everard studied French, German and Chinese at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and studied Chinese history and economics at Bejing University. He holds an MA from Manchester Business School.

Philippines Conference Room

John Everard

No longer in residence.

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2010-2011 Pantech Fellow
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John Everard, a retired British diplomat, is now a consultant for the UN.

In October 2006, only a few short months after Everard arrived in Pyongyang to serve as the British ambassador, North Korea conducted its first-ever nuclear test. Everard spent the next two-and-a-half years meeting with North Korean government officials and attending the official events so beloved by the North Korean regime. During this complicated period he provided crucial reports back to the British government on political developments.

He also traveled extensively throughout North Korea, witnessing scenes of daily life experienced by few foreigners: people shopping for food in Pyongyang’s informal street markets, urban residents taking time off to relax at the beach, and many other very human moments. Everard captured such snapshots of everyday life through dozens of photographs and detailed notes.

His distinguished career with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office spanned nearly 30 years and four continents (Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America), and included a number of politically sensitive posts. As the youngest-ever British ambassador when he was appointed to Belarus (1993 to 1995), he built an embassy from the ground up just a few short years after the fall of the Soviet Union. He also skillfully managed diplomatic relations as the UK ambassador to Uruguay (2001 to 2005) during a period of economic crisis and the country’s election of its first left-wing government.

From 2010 to 2011 Everard spent one year at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, conducting research, writing, and participating in major international conferences on North Korea.

He holds BA and MA degrees in Chinese from Emmanuel College at Cambridge University, and a diploma in economics from Beijing University. Everard also earned an MBA from Manchester Business School, and is proficient in Chinese, Spanish, German, Russian, and French.

An avid cyclist and volunteer, Everard enjoys biking whenever he has the opportunity. He has been known to cycle from his London home to provincial cities to attend meetings of the Youth Hostels Association of England and Wales, of which he was a trustee from 2009 to 2010.

Everard currently resides with his wife in New York City.

Pantech Fellowships, generously funded by Pantech Group of Korea, are intended to cultivate a diverse international community of scholars and professionals committed to and capable of grappling with challenges posed by developments in Korea. We invite individuals from the United States, Korea, and other countries to apply.

John Everard 2010-2011 Pantech Fellow, APARC, Stanford University Speaker
Seminars
Korean Studies Colloquium Series

Eiichi Yamamoto

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Eiichi Yamamoto is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2010-11.  He joined the Japan Patent Office (JPO) in 1999 and has worked as a patent examiner, handling patent applications in the field of organic chemistry.  In 2007, he was in charge of policy planning of intellectual property, especially with respect to the utilization of intellectual property, at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).  He obtained his BS and MS in Chemical Science and Engineering from Kobe University.

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Naoki Takeuchi

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Naoki Takeuchi is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2010-11.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he worked at the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ) for sixteen years.  Takeuchi's experience at DBJ include venture capital, M&A, corporate restructuring, private equity, and buyout finance.  Takeuchi graduated from the University of Tokyo with a BA in Economics in 1994.  He received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2002.

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Oshie Sato

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Oshie Sato is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2010-11.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he has worked at Sumitomo Corporation, one of the major trading and investment conglomerates in Japan for ten years.  After joining Sumitomo, he has been engaged in management of some of Sumitomo's affiliated companies such as internet streaming channel, CATV broadcasting channel and film distribution company in media industries.

He graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Politics and Economics.

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Yuichi Moronaga

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Yuichi Moronaga is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2010-11.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he held positions at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan (METI) for about 11 years, where he took charge of policy making.  His latest position at METI was as deputy director in the Manufacturing Industries Bureau. He graduated from Kyoto University in Economics.

 

 

 

 

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Takeshi Kondo

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Takeshi Kondo is a Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2010–2011. He started his career in 1994 as a systems engineer for Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. Kondo designed several IT/vision/telecommunication systems for road operation and
management agencies of Japan, and took part in a Japanese government and private sector study of electronic toll collection systems. Additionally, he designed a business-to-business web system for his company. He is currently a manager for the Strategic IT Business Planning Department of Mitsubishi Electric and he is in charge of research on new IT businesses. Kondo graduated from Waseda University with a BS and an MS in industrial and management systems engineering.

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Toshifumi Kadowaki

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Toshifumi Kadowaki is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at Shorenstein APARC for 2010-2011. Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he has worked for the IT solution department at Sumitomo Corporation, one of the major trading and investment conglomerates in Japan. He was responsible for planning the business growth strategy, including M&A strategy, and supporting the management of the subsidiaries. He also has 5 years experience of investing in start-up companies. He graduated from Waseda University with a BA in Commerce.

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Minoru Aosaki

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Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow
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Minoru Aosaki is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2010–11 and 2011–12. Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he was deputy director for international banking regulations at the Government of Japan's Financial Services Agency, where he was responsible for developing bank regulatory standards as a member of groups of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Before 2008, he worked for Japan's Ministry of Finance and drafted the ministry's policy-position papers on the International Monetary Fund and also participated in the communiqué drafting processes at the G7 and G20 meetings.

During his time at Shorenstein APARC, Aosaki researches policy responses to the recent financial crisis with the support of Dr. Michael Armacost, and discussed at seminars and conferences at Stanford University, Cornell University, and Harvard University.  He received a bachelor of law degree (LL.B.) from Hitotsubashi University in 2001, a master of public administration degree (MPA) from Syracuse University in 2004, and a master of law degree (LL.M.) from Cornell Law School in 2005.
 

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