Seeking medical services through guanxi in China

• Published in: Patient education and counseling 2021-07, Vol.104 (7), p.1789-1795
• Main Authors: Zhang, Shuai, Wu, Yijin, Ma, Wen, Cheng, Meili, Li, Linzi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: China; guanxi; Nursing; Seeking medical services
• ISSN: 0738-3991; 1873-5134
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2020.12.004

•Medical guanxi allow patients to get access to high-quality care and services.•Medical guanxi could lead to deteriorated doctor-patient trust and disorderly healthcare.•Healthcare system should be further reformed to help patients gain equitable access to medical services. Seeking access to medical services through social networks and personal relationships, referred to as ‘guanxi’, is a common phenomenon in China. This study aims to use a qualitative methodology to examine the experiences and perceptions of patients using guanxi in seeking medical services in China. A semi-structured, face-to-face interview was conducted with eleven participants who had the experiences of using guanxi in seeking medical services. An inductive content analysis was employed to explore the themes and subthemes of these interviews. Five themes were generated: (1) underlying systemic context, (2) reasons for utilizing guanxi, (3) personal practices, (4) personal attitudes towards guanxi in healthcare seeking, (5) suggested solutions. Seeking medical services through guanxi exerts a negative influence on the doctor-patient relationship in China. This study uncovered a range of factors unidentified in the previous studies, which may have been important in helping to understand the social phenomenon of seeking medical services through guanxi in China. Further research needs to be conducted to explore measures that could reduce the disharmonious doctor-patient relationship caused by the social phenomenon of seeking medical services through guanxi. We recommend that doctors need to improve their communication skills, and pay more attention to the patient’s biopsychosocial care; (2) hospitals should supervise doctors to treat patients in strict accordance with medical procedures; (3)government should implement healthcare reforms to provide affordable and reliable medical care services.