Table 1.

Attributes and levels.

Attributes	Levels	Definition
Hospital level	Community hospital Secondary hospital Tertiary hospital Private hospital	Public hospitals in China are divided into three grades according to their functions, facilities and technical strength, among which tertiary hospitals are the highest.
Distance	Within the county/district Within the cityv Within the province Across the province	The location of clinics.
Care provider	Resident Attending physician Associate chief physician Consultant/chief physician	According to the top-down order, the professional titles of Chinese doctors are from low to high.
Waiting time	No need to wait 3 days 6 days 9 days 12 days	Includes appointment registration time and hospital waiting time.
Cost (CNY)
Chronic non-infectious diseases(e.g., diabetes)	300 600 900 1,200	Treatment cost per patient per time (including registration fee, drug fee, hospitalization fee, etc.)
Acute infectious diseases (e.g., COVID−19)	5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000
Major diseases (e.g., lung cancer)	20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000
Medical insurance reimbursement	0 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%	Expenditure from the Medical Insurance Fund.