Recently, a research paper titled “Smart Elderly Health Care and Medical Expenses: Evidence from Smart Elderly Health Care Demonstration Sites” by Professor Xie E and doctoral candidate Yang Yuqi from the School of Economics at Shandong University was published in the first issue of 2025 in the prestigious Chinese journal Management World.

As China’s aging population continues to escalate healthcare costs, this study investigates whether smart elderly health care—an innovative “Internet + Healthcare” model—can help reduce medical expenses and alleviate the burden on the healthcare system. Using an overlapping generations model and a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) methodology, the analysis reveals that pilot policies for smart elderly health care led to a 3.84% reduction in elderly hospitalization rates and significantly decreased inpatient costs, outpatient costs, total medical expenses, and out-of-pocket expenses by 31.26%, 57.65%, 63.91%, and 47.53%, respectively.

The study identifies key mechanisms contributing to these results, including reduced transportation costs, improved chronic disease management, and increased engagement in preventive exercise. However, the potential of these policies to promote “enjoyable aging” remains limited. These findings offer valuable insights into addressing population aging and mitigating healthcare challenges in aging societies.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Social Science Foundation of China.