IPP Studies in the Frontiers of China’s Public Policy Obligation

Specifically, it takes the physician–patient relationship during the barefoot doctor program in 1968–1978, the marketization of healthcare in 1978–2002, and the healthcare reform in 2003–2020 as three historical periods, illustrating how the nature of the physician–patient relationship has changed over time. Rights, especially the specification and pursuit of patients’ rights, have been widely discussed in the legislation and literature on health and medical law in China. This book takes a different perspective, examining obligations rather than rights in health care. It examines the issue of physician-patient obligations in the context of China’s healthcare reforms. This book also points out that a rounded analysis of the physician-patient relationship in China must take into account the obligation and function of the major components of the healthcare delivery system other than physicians and hospitals, such as healthcare insurance schemes. Jia Liu is an Associate Research Professor at the Institute of Public Policy, South China University of China. She holds a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include global justice, bioethics, and health care reform in China. This book explores the shifting nature of physician–patient relationship in China. Specifically, it takes the physician–patient relationship during the barefoot doctor program in 1968–1978, the marketization of healthcare in 1978–2002, and the healthcare reform in 2003–2020 as three historical periods, illustrating how the nature of the physician–patient relationship has changed over time. Analyzing the ways in which law and social policies—involving the doctrine of informed consent, public hospital reform, and systemic healthcare reform—have in different ways shaped and changed the practices of physicians and patients, which illustrates how the bond between them threatens to collapse. With a uniquely vivid depiction of Chinese healthcare issues, this book will interest sociologists, China scholars and more.