Creating accountable hospital service areas in China: a case analysis of health expenditure in the metropolis of Chengdu.

HSAs were delineated to help establish an accountable healthcare delivery system, which serves as local hospital markets to provide in-patient healthcare via connecting demanders with suppliers inside particular HSAs. Policy-makers should adopt HSAs to identify variations of total in-patient expenditures among different areas and the potential associated factors. Findings from the HSA-based analysis could inform the formulation of relevant health policies and the optimisation of healthcare resource allocations.