Assessing the interaction of cross-city patient mobility and the coupling relationship between supply and demand of healthcare in China  

中国城际患者流动与医疗服务供需耦合关系的交互影响

作　　者：XIANG Bowen WEI Wei GUO Fang HONG Mengyao 向博文;魏伟;郭方;洪梦谣

机构地区：[1]School of Urban Design,Wuhan University,Wuhan 430079,China [2]China Institute of Development Strategy and Planning,Wuhan University,Wuhan 430079,China

出　　处：《Journal of Geographical Sciences》2025年第4期867-885,共19页地理学报(英文版)

基　　金：Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of Ministry of Education of China,No.24YJA630097;National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.42471304。

摘　　要：The uneven distribution of medical resources has led to increasingly frequent patient mobility;however, the interaction between this phenomenon and the healthcare supply-demand relationship remains underexplored. The present study constructed the 2023Cross-City Patient Mobility Network in China using one million patient mobility data records obtained from online healthcare platforms. We applied urban network analysis to uncover mobility patterns and used the coupling coordination degree model to assess healthcare supply-demand relationships before and after patient mobility. Explainable machine learning further revealed the impact of supply-demand coupling on patient mobility. The results indicated the following: Patient mobility followed administrative boundaries, although megacities serve areas beyond provincial borders;The scale of healthcare supply and demand displayed a multi-centric spatial pattern with a general decline from east to west, and these characteristics of demand distribution were further solidified by patient mobility;Cities with low supply-demand coupling and undersupply experienced patient outflows, while cities with high coupling and oversupply attracted them. In turn, patient mobility helped balance healthcare supply and demand, optimising the coupling relationship across cities. Thus, this research not only provides a methodological reference for understanding the interaction between patient mobility and healthcare systems but also offers empirical insights for public health policy.

关 键 词：cross-city patient mobility healthcare services coupling coordination degree model coupling relationship spatial analysis 

分 类 号：R197[医药卫生—卫生事业管理] R197.1[医药卫生—公共卫生与预防医学]