Implementing a “free” tuberculosis (TB) care policy under the integrated model in Jiangsu, China: practices and costs in the real world

Table 4 Medical expenditure on TB treatment (in Chinese yuan) incurred by patients receiving only outpatient care, by county 2012

	DT (n = 14)	YZ (n = 49)	JR (n = 93)	Total (n = 106)
Expenditure per outpatient visit	233.8	155.9	137.4	150.6
Total expenditure per patient^a	684.7	1,139.3	1,277.7	1,135.4
- Lab tests	266.6	253.7	361.8	299.3
(as a % of the total expenditure)	38.9 %	22.3 %	28.3 %	26.4 %
- Image examination	256.2	395.7	51.9	237.8
(as a % of the total expenditure)	37.4 %	34.7 %	4.1 %	20.9 %
- Non-free TB drugs	20.7	95.5	47.9	66.3
(as a % of the total expenditure)	3.0 %	8.4 %	3.8 %	5.8 %
- Liver protection drugs	87.8	288.2	452.3	328.3
(as a % of the total expenditure)	12.8 %	25.3 %	35.4 %	28.9 %
- Other	53.4	106.2	363.8	203.8
(as a % of the total expenditure)	7.8 %	9.3 %	28.5 %	18.0 %

Data source: Patient surveys and hospital records
^aANOVA for total expenditure per patient between the three counties, p < 0.0001, significant difference observed between DT county and JR county

ISSN: 2049-9957