Research On Policy Influencing Factors Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Service Utilization Based On FsQCA

ObjectivesThe purpose of the study is to identify the key policy influencing factors that affect the utilization of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)services,explore the path of policy tool combination to promote the utilization of TCM services,and provide reference for provinces(autonomous regions,municipalities directly under the Central Government)to optimize the combination of TCM policy tools,and formulate effective policies to promote the utilization of TCM services.Methods1.Content Analysis:The research used Content Analysis to collect the text data of TCM policies issued by 26 provinces(autonomous regions,municipalities directly under the Central Government)in 2016-2021.By using NVivo software coding,the policy text was subdivided into 10 policy sub-tools from the three dimensions of"supply-environment-demand",namely,"infrastructure construction,scientific research and information management,talent education and training,medical insurance fiscal and financial support,policy regulation,publicity and promotion,quality evaluation,intellectual property rights protection,industry shaping,pilot projects".2.Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis(fsQCA):The research took the policy tools as the conditional variables,the utilization of TCM services as the outcome variables,and used fsQCA to explore the functional mechanism of various policy tools on the utilization of TCM services from the perspective of configuration.At the same time,it analyzed the core conditions to promote the utilization of TCM services,the substitution relationship between the conditional variables,and analyzed the policy measures to promote the utilization of TCM services in typical provinces by returning to cases.Results1.The promotion of the utilization of TCM services is not determined by a single policy tool,but is affected by the comprehensive influence of multiple policy tools,that is,the combination and coordination of different types of policy tools can effectively improve the utilization of TCM services.2.Taking the outbreak of COVID-19 as the time node,we compared the paths of promoting the utilization of TCM services in the two stages before and after the outbreak,and found that:(1)From 2016 to 2019,the combination of policy tools to promote the utilization of TCM services can be summarized into two types:"supplyenvironment complementary" and "supply-environment linkage";From 2020 to 2021,there are four kinds of policy tool combination paths to promote the utilization of TCM services,namely,"environmental support-led","supply-environment complementary","demand-environment complementary" and "supply-demand-environment linkage"path,which are more diverse than the previous stage.(2)Compared with before the outbreak,the government paid more attention to the use of such policy tools as"medical insurance,fiscal and financial support","talent education and training","policy regulation" and "pilot projects" to promote the use of TCM services after the outbreak.3.Under specific objective conditions,some combination of policy tools can be replaced equivalently to promote the utilization of TCM services in the way of"reaching the same goal through different paths".4.There are obvious differences in the policy combination paths for promoting the utilization of TCM services in different provinces.ConclusionTo promote the utilization of TCM services,it is necessary to combine different categories of policy tools "according to the time and local conditions".Each province should establish a targeted combination of priority policy tools to promote the utilization of TCM services based on the actual situation of the province.First,pay attention to the differences in the effect of policy tools and attach importance to the use of environmental policy tools;Second,coordinate and integrate various policy tools and explore policies suitable for promoting the utilization of TCM services according to local conditions;Third,we should pay attention to the substitution effect of the combination of TCM policy tools,and issue policies to make up for the objective deficiencies;Fourth,focus on the cumulative effect of policies and adjust the use of various TCM policy tools in a timely manner.