Abstract:

Objective To explore the research hotspots and development trends in the field of the impact of China's employee medical insurance on health，reveal the current research status in this field，and provide a data basis and reference for relevant systematic research，optimization of equalization of health services，and establishment of a performance evaluation system. Methods Taking the literature on employee medical insurance and health from Peking University Core，CSSCI，and CSCD journals in China National Knowledge Infrastructure（CNKI） from January 1997 to February 2026 as the research objects，after excluding invalid literature，838 valid pieces of literature were finally included. Excel 2021 was used to analyze the trend of publication volume，and CiteSpace 6.4.2.R0 software was used to conduct visual analysis from the dimensions of author and institutional cooperation，keyword co-occurrence，clustering，burst detection，and timeline. Results A total of 838 articles were included in this field from 1997 to 2026，with a fluctuating upward trend in the number of publications，peaking at 64 articles in 2015. 535 authors participated，forming a core author group of 44 people. Institutional cooperation was centered on the schools of public health and public administration of top universities，with the School of Public Administration of Renmin University of China ranking first in the number of publications. The high-frequency keywords were medical insurance，etc.，forming 8 research clusters，and after 2021，employee medical insurance，outpatient mutual aid，and common prosperity became research frontiers. Conclusion The research in this field continues to be popular and highly linked with national policies，forming a cross-regional cooperation pattern led by top universities，but there are problems such as insufficient construction of the core author group. In the future，we should focus on the three major directions of sustainable development of the employee medical insurance system，optimization of the outpatient mutual aid mechanism，and integration of medical insurance and common prosperity，strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation，and enrich research methods and perspectives.

Key words: Employee medical insurance, Health impact, Health effect, Health performance, Visual analysis