Huraysi Najwa Ali, Kattan Waleed M, Alqurashi Mohamed A, Fadel Bodour Ayman, Al-Hanawi Mohammed Khaled
Department of Health Services and Hospital Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Human Resources Planning Department, King Abdulaziz Hospital, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2023 Jun 12;16:1033-1047. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S414823. eCollection 2023.
Escalating global health expenditures pose a threat to healthcare financing sustainability, requiring the exploration of alternative financing policies and resource allocation strategies to curb their adverse effects. The aim of this study was to gather insight into the preferences of healthcare workers, including physicians, nurses, allied healthcare professionals, and healthcare administrators, as well as academics in the field of healthcare management and health sciences in Saudi universities, regarding policy options that can secure the financial sustainability of healthcare services in Saudi Arabia.
A cross-sectional research design was employed, and data were collected through an online self-administered survey from August 2022 to December 2022 in Saudi Arabia. The survey garnered responses from 513 participants hailing from all 13 administrative regions in Saudi Arabia. Analyses were performed using non-parametric statistical tests, specifically the two-sample Mann-Whitney -test and Kruskal-Wallis test, to determine the statistical significance of differences in the policy ranking and policy feasibility options.
The study findings reveal a consensus among stakeholders on the most and least preferred policies. All stakeholders expressed opposition to financing healthcare by diverting resources from defence, social protection, and education, while they favoured policies that entail imposing penalties on health-related issues such as waste management and pollution. Nevertheless, variations among stakeholders were evident in regard to the rankings for specific policies, particularly between healthcare workers and academics. Moreover, the results highlight that tax-based policies are the most feasible approach to generating healthcare funds, despite ranking lower in terms of preferred policies.
This study provides a framework for understanding stakeholder preferences on healthcare financing sustainability by ranking 26 policy options according to stakeholder groups. The appropriate mixture of financing mechanisms should be informed by evidence-based and data-driven approaches that consider relevant stakeholder preferences.
全球卫生支出不断攀升，对医疗保健融资的可持续性构成威胁，因此需要探索替代性融资政策和资源分配策略，以遏制其不利影响。本研究的目的是深入了解医疗保健工作者（包括医生、护士、专职医疗专业人员和医疗保健管理人员）以及沙特大学医疗保健管理和健康科学领域的学者对能够确保沙特阿拉伯医疗保健服务财务可持续性的政策选项的偏好。
采用横断面研究设计，于2022年8月至2022年12月在沙特阿拉伯通过在线自填式调查收集数据。该调查获得了来自沙特阿拉伯所有13个行政区的513名参与者的回复。使用非参数统计检验，特别是两样本曼-惠特尼检验和克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯检验进行分析，以确定政策排名和政策可行性选项差异的统计显著性。
研究结果显示，利益相关者在最偏好和最不偏好的政策上达成了共识。所有利益相关者都反对通过从国防、社会保护和教育领域转移资源来为医疗保健融资，而他们支持对诸如废物管理和污染等与健康相关的问题实施惩罚的政策。然而，利益相关者在具体政策的排名上存在明显差异，尤其是医疗保健工作者和学者之间。此外，结果表明，尽管基于税收的政策在偏好政策方面排名较低，但却是筹集医疗保健资金最可行的方法。
本研究通过根据利益相关者群体对26项政策选项进行排名，提供了一个理解利益相关者对医疗保健融资可持续性偏好的框架。融资机制的适当组合应以考虑相关利益相关者偏好的循证和数据驱动方法为依据。
