Table 1 Descriptive statistics on sample hospitals and inpatients before and after the information disclosure

Hospital characteristics

 Hospital type, No. (%)

  General

13 (92.86)

11 (91.67)

11 (91.67)

11 (91.67)

11 (91.67)

  Specialty

1 (7.14)

1 (8.33)

1 (8.33)

1 (8.33)

1 (8.33)

 No. of beds, mean (SD)

1,630 (324.78)

1,426 (346.83)

1,665 (297.98)

1,473 (358.99)

1,683(351.45)

 No. of employees, mean (SD)

3,139 (778.90)

2,815 (636.91)

3,300 (786.56)

2,870 (690.26)

3,200 (834.40)

 Annual discharges per hospital, mean (SD)

88,964(23916.28)

66,953(18613.51)

97,255(25698.80)

67,553 (20348.88)

95,329 (28035.22)

 Annual costs per hospital [RMB, million], mean (SD)

3366.73 (1095.90)

2369.51 (596.22)

3833.67 (1203.73)

2356.53 (670.24)

3688.83 (1288.02)

 Length of stay [days], mean (SD)

7.23 (0.60)

8.62 (1.48)

6.82 (0.61)

8.66 (1.48)

6.89 (0.68)

Inpatient characteristics

 Cases with targeted diseases, No.

218,928

14,246

106,517

13,241

84,924

Proportion of cases with targeted diseases [‰], mean (SD)

11.47 (16.53)

13.38 (15.18)

9.87 (7.18)

10.57 (7.22)

 Costs per case with targeted diseases [RMB], mean (SD)

15144.22 (2957.82)

17927.70 (3000.38)

49761.75(10052.56)

57772.37 (13076.74)

 Proportion of costs on targeted diseases [‰], mean (SD)

3.62 (5.59)

6.94 (7.59)

12.11 (5.99)

14.30 (7.70)

Drug costs per case with targeted diseases [RMB], mean (SD)

3464.79 (1659.31)

3022.68 (1283.89)

18313.48 (6880.50)

15637.21 (7036.72)

Consumable costs per case with targeted diseases [RMB], mean (SD)

1692.70 (996.64)

2833.43 (1195.23)

15774.99 (3579.57)

18740.66 (7328.66)

Length of stay per case with targeted diseases [days], mean (SD)

6.99 (1.79)

5.78 (1.53)

20.57 (3.62)

16.64 (4.29)

Subgroup characteristics by quartiles

 Costs per case with targeted diseases [RMB], mean (SD)

  Q1 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

11791.28 (982.53)

16746.42 (2363.21)

40886.50 (5792.59)

48662.94 (8830.17)

  Q2 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

14005.46 (1432.52)

16756.35 (2707.67)

44275.03 (8009.01)

49967.12 (5722.54)

  Q3 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

16239.06 (1446.63)

18096.45 (2083.61)

57314.29 (7145.93)

61073.73 (7837.33)

  Q4 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

18541.10 (2157.90)

20111.56 (3379.42)

56571.17 (6907.53)

71385.67(13184.09)

 Drug costs per case with targeted diseases [RMB], mean (SD)

  Q1 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

1897.46 (476.05)

2218.30 (580.55)

11242.36 (4333.24)

11807.70 (5355.19)

  Q2 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

2738.45 (807.37)

2415.93 (779.79)

15639.95 (4364.58)

10311.13 (3440.44)

  Q3 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

4104.58 (1899.78)

3579.18 (1354.04)

22927.88 (3477.73)

17947.10 (5510.08)

  Q4 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

5118.69 (709.41)

3877.32 (1339.61)

23443.73 (6045.40)

22482.90 (5709.41)

 Consumable costs per case with targeted diseases [RMB], mean (SD)

  Q1 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

1121.72 (115.35)

2483.72 (940.43)

5.11 (1.61)

4.91 (1.69)

  Q2 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

1045.42 (310.01)

2601.85 (1106.94)

7.62 (1.67)

5.19 (1.30)

  Q3 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

2409.11 (1101.24)

2594.85 (1138.65)

7.49 (1.32)

6.95 (0.91)

  Q4 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

2194.55 (1102.01)

3653.29 (1201.56)

7.75 (1.09)

6.05 (1.22)

 Length of stay per case with targeted diseases [days], mean (SD)

  Q1 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

14548.55 (3441.16)

16231.39 (2913.19)

17.41 (2.30)

14.22 (2.32)

  Q2 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

15191.99 (1754.77)

18416.43 (3149.26)

18.73 (3.36)

12.89 (2.38)

  Q3 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

15537.67 (3611.85)

18811.05 (8735.23)

22.40 (2.43)

19.37 (4.08)

  Q4 subgroup of hospitals (N = 3)

17821.77 (4337.62)

21503.77 (10385.53)

23.76 (1.92)

20.06 (2.67)