AUTHOR=Li Xinyu , Tong Ping , Zhu Bangsen 

TITLE=Strategic investment patterns of the medical industry in senior health

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1629981

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2025.1629981

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=This study constructs a fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) framework based on seven supply–demand variables in the senior-health sector of Japan and South Korea (2014–2023) and the medical-industry’s investment ratio in senior health, to systematically explore the multiple configurational pathways that enhance investment ratios. Four typical pathways were identified: P1 (high Government Fiscal Investment + Enterprise Technology Innovation Index + Older Adult Service Institution Capacity), P2 (Government Fiscal Investment + Social Capital Participation + high Health Insurance Reimbursement Rate + Older Adult Service Institution Capacity), P3 (Government Fiscal Investment + Enterprise Technology Innovation Index + Smart Service Platform Construction) and P4 (Social Capital Participation + Enterprise Technology Innovation Index + Smart Service Platform Construction + Older Adult Service Institution Capacity + high Health Insurance Reimbursement Rate). All paths demonstrate that “fiscal leverage + market incentives + digital empowerment + institutional safeguards” in four-dimensional linkage are pivotal to improving resource-allocation efficiency. Robustness tests confirm the stability of each pathway after threshold adjustments and outlier exclusions, bolstering the external validity of the findings. A Japan–Korea comparison reveals higher coverage in government-led and market-reform pathways in Korea, whereas Japan leads in the intelligent-care and telemedicine pilot pathway. Policy recommendations emphasize context-sensitive, flexible configuration of fiscal, market, technological and institutional elements, with priority support for Smart Service Platform Construction and public–private partnership models to meet differentiated needs under varying fiscal capacities and aging pressures. This study applies the dynamic fsQCA method to the integrated medical–older adult care domain, enriching the theoretical paradigm of strategic investment in the senior-health industry and offering transferable policy-configuration pathways for other aging societies.