Organising cross-border care after arrival: receiving-system challenges in a China–Vietnam border region
4 affiliations
- 1Institute of Fiscal and Finance, Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, 56 Shungeng Road, Jinan, Shandong 250002 China
- 2Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, 56 Shungeng Road, Jinan, Shandong 250002 China
- 3The People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, China
- 4Center for Health Policy and Hospital Administration Research (Guangxi Academy of Medical Sciences), The People’s Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 6 Taoyuan Road, Nanning, Guangxi 530021 China
Abstract
Background: Cross-border healthcare is increasingly visible in border regions where patient mobility develops faster than the institutional arrangements needed to support care. Existing research has often examined why patients seek care abroad, while less is known about how receiving health systems organise care after cross-border patients enter local hospitals. This study examined the receiving-system challenges faced by Guangxi, China, in responding to cross-border healthcare demand from Vietnamese patients.
Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in Guangxi using semi-structured interviews with 35 participants, including 6 policymakers, 9 hospital administrators, 11 healthcare providers, and 9 Vietnamese patients. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were collected between March 2024 and May 2025. Interviews were conducted in Chinese, with Vietnamese-Chinese interpretation provided when needed for Vietnamese patients. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Six interrelated receiving-system challenges were identified across the pre-treatment, treatment, and post-treatment stages of care: pre-arrival preparation and hospital admission coordination, patient-authorized clinical documentation transfer and verification, language mediation and culturally responsive communication, patient-and-family navigation and inpatient support, billing documentation and claim-support navigation, and structured post-discharge follow-up after return to Vietnam. These challenges show that receiving cross-border patients requires practical arrangements that connect admission preparation, usable clinical information, communication, family involvement, payment documentation, and follow-up into a coherent care process.
Conclusions: Cross-border healthcare in the Guangxi-Vietnam border setting should be understood as a receiving-system coordination challenge. For border-region health systems where formal cross-border arrangements remain limited, strengthening receiving-system readiness may help make care safer, more understandable, and more continuous for patients whose treatment trajectories cross national boundaries.
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BibTeX
@article{xiang2026organising,
title = {{Organising cross-border care after arrival: receiving-system challenges in a China–Vietnam border region}},
author = {Xin Xiang and Yunzhi Sun and Xiaogang Wang and Xinyue Zhang and Xiangjie Lyu and Hongzhi Wang},
journal = {Globalization and Health},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12992-026-01232-w},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-026-01232-w},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Organising cross-border care after arrival: receiving-system challenges in a China–Vietnam border region
AU - Xin Xiang
AU - Yunzhi Sun
AU - Xiaogang Wang
AU - Xinyue Zhang
AU - Xiangjie Lyu
AU - Hongzhi Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/07
JO - Globalization and Health
DO - 10.1186/s12992-026-01232-w
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-026-01232-w
AB - Background: Cross-border healthcare is increasingly visible in border regions where patient mobility develops faster than the institutional arrangements needed to support care. Existing research has often examined why patients seek care abroad, while less is known about how receiving health systems organise care after cross-border patients enter local hospitals. This study examined the receiving-system challenges faced by Guangxi, China, in responding to cross-border healthcare demand from Vietnamese patients. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in Guangxi using semi-structured interviews with 35 participants, including 6 policymakers, 9 hospital administrators, 11 healthcare providers, and 9 Vietnamese patients. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were collected between March 2024 and May 2025. Interviews were conducted in Chinese, with Vietnamese-Chinese interpretation provided when needed for Vietnamese patients. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Six interrelated receiving-system challenges were identified across the pre-treatment, treatment, and post-treatment stages of care: pre-arrival preparation and hospital admission coordination, patient-authorized clinical documentation transfer and verification, language mediation and culturally responsive communication, patient-and-family navigation and inpatient support, billing documentation and claim-support navigation, and structured post-discharge follow-up after return to Vietnam. These challenges show that receiving cross-border patients requires practical arrangements that connect admission preparation, usable clinical information, communication, family involvement, payment documentation, and follow-up into a coherent care process. Conclusions: Cross-border healthcare in the Guangxi-Vietnam border setting should be understood as a receiving-system coordination challenge. For border-region health systems where formal cross-border arrangements remain limited, strengthening receiving-system readiness may help make care safer, more understandable, and more continuous for patients whose treatment trajectories cross national boundaries.
SN - 1744-8603
ER -