ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Policy
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1616534
Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding China's National Centralized Drug Procurement Policy: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shaanxi Province
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Pharmacy, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
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Background: Since 2019, the Chinese government has been fully implementing the National Centralized Drug Procurement (NCDP) policy, with the core objective of reducing drug costs and alleviating the medical burden on patients. As the practitioners of this policy, healthcare professionals (HCPs) play a crucial role in its implementation. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding the implementation of the (NCDP) policy and the factors influencing these aspects. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey on HCPs from public hospitals in Shaanxi Province from 2022 August to September. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics, knowledge of NCDP, attitude towards NCDP policy, and practice of policy implementation. KAP adequacy was dichotomized at the 70 % cut-off (Knowledge: adequate vs. inadequate, Attitude: positive vs. negative; Practice: good vs. poor). All the variables were descriptively analyzed, and multivariate logistics regression analysis was used to explore the factors associated with KAP level. Results: A total of 1257 valid responses were received. Of these, 58.4% demonstrated adequate knowledge, 63.2% held positive attitudes, and 35.2% exhibited good practices. Significant occupational disparities emerged, with pharmacists outperforming physicians across all KAP domains (p<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that professional title, being a pharmacist, and attending the training were independently associated with adequate knowledge. Positive attitudes were significantly associated with 11-20 years of working experience, having a bachelor's degree, being a pharmacist, and attending training. Proactive practice was associated with longer working years, being a pharmacist, and training attendance. The main concerns of HCPs regarding the NCDP policy were guaranteeing medicine quality (93.2%), strengthening clinical outcomes research (80.0%), and strengthening monitoring of adverse reactions (79.6%). Conclusions: Our study found that HCPs in Shaanxi province possessed a moderate level of knowledge and generally positive attitudes toward the NCDP policy, yet demonstrate room for enhanced practice. Pharmacists play a pivotal role in policy implementation. To strengthen HCPs' policy endorsement and ensure faithful implementation, targeted training on therapeutic effectiveness and safety evaluation is essential, as it can alleviate clinical concerns and bridge the gap from evidence to actionable competence.
Keywords: NCDP policy, KAP, healthcare professionals, centrally procured drugs, generic consistency evaluation
Received: 23 Apr 2025; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shen, Kang, Ye, Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kanghuai Zhang, Department of Pharmacy, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
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