Research on the equity of health resource allocation in TCM hospitals in China based on the Gini coefficient and agglomeration degree: 2009–2018

BACKGROUND: The demographical and geographical distributions of health resources are important aspects of healthcare access. Few studies have been published on health resource allocation in TCM hospitals in China despite public equity concerns. METHODS: This article uses the Gini coefficient and agglomeration degree to analyze the health resources of TCM hospitals in China according to demographic and geographic configuration conditions in order to study the equity of the health resources of TCM from 2009 to 2018. RESULTS: From 2009 to 2018, all regions of the TCM health resources per ten thousand people and per ten thousand square kilometers showed overall upward trends. The overall equity of the health resource allocations of TCM hospitals in China tended to improve year by year. However, there were still great differences among regions. Generally, the equity of physical resource allocation was better than the equity of human resource allocation. Additionally, the equity of health resources in TCM hospitals allocated by population was better than it was by geographic region. CONCLUSIONS: It is necessary to further optimize the structure of TCM resource allocation, and enhance the equity of resource allocation among different regions.