Objective  To examine the cognition on medical service-related policies and its influencing factors among parents of children in urban Fuzhou municipality of Fujian province and to provide evidences for effective implementation of the policies.

  Methods  We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey on cognition on medical service-related policies among 936 parents of children ≤ 14 years old in urban regions of Fuzhou city between August and October 2017. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the satisfaction to medical service received by their children.

  Results  Of all the respondents, 31.52%, 50.85%, 39.32%, and 83.65% were not aware of medical insurance reimbursement for medication at community health institutions, tiered diagnosis and treatment scheme, family doctor service, and essential medicine system at all. Ordial logistic regression demonstrated that the respondents with the children aged 4 – 6 years (odds ratio OR = 0.524, 95% confidence interval 95% CI: 0.287 – 0.954), being civil servants (OR = 0.007, 95% CI: 0.001 – 0.038), working in public institutions (OR = 0.007, 95% CI: 0.001 – 0.035), employed by enterprises (OR = 0.003, 95% CI: 0.001 – 0.009), with the education of junior high school education or below (OR = 0.063, 95% CI: 0.014 – 0.286), and having monthly income of below 2 000 yuan (RMB) (OR = 0.016, 95% CI: 0.001 – 0.255) were more likely to have a lower cognition on the reimbursement standard for medication at community health institutions by urban residents′ medical insurance, while the respondents doing full-time housework (OR = 25.842, 95% CI: 2.518 – 265.199), having monthly income of 4 000 yuan or more (OR = 3.743, 95% CI: 1.531 – 9.150), selecting provincial/municipal hospitals (OR = 6.534, 95% CI: 1.810 – 23.589) or community health institutions (OR = 10.892, 95% CI: 2.941 – 40.337) as the first choice when their children needing medical service were more likely to have a higher cognition on the reimbursement standard; the respondents employed by public institutions (OR = 0.101, 95% CI: 0.029 – 0.355) or enterprises (OR = 0.073, 95% CI: 0.031 – 0.175), with the education of senior high school /technical secondary school/technical school (OR = 0.232, 95% CI: 0.069 – 0.777) or junior college (OR = 0.107, 95% CI: 0.042 – 0.274), having annual family income more than 100 000 yuan (OR = 0.207, 95% CI: 0.070 – 0.614), and selecting provincial/municipal hospitals as the first choice when their children needing medical service (OR = 0.247, 95% CI: 0.070 – 0.872) were more likely to have a lower cognition on tiered diagnosis and treatment scheme, whereas the respondents with the children aged 1 – 3 years (OR = 3.254, 95% CI: 1.515 – 6.989), the children in good health condition (OR = 15.549, 95% CI: 5.375 – 44.985), and the children participating in medical insurance for urban residents (OR = 2.042, 95% CI: 1.291 – 3.231) were more likely to have a higher cognition on tiered diagnosis and treatment scheme; the respondents with the education of junior high school and below (OR = 0.008, 95% CI: 0.001 – 0.081) or senior high school/technical secondary school/technical secondary school (OR = 0.088, 95% CI:0.030 – 0.254) or junior college (OR = 0.311, 95% CI: 0.137 – 0.706), with the monthly income of 2 000 – 3 999 yuan (OR = 0.150, 95% CI: 0.062 – 0.363) or 4 000 yuan and more (OR = 0.206, 95% CI: 0.092 – 0.460), and with the children participating in medical insurance for urban residents (OR = 0.560, 95% CI: 0.377 – 0.833) were likely to have a lower cognition on family doctor service.

  Conclusion  The parents of children in urban Fuzhou municipality are lack of awareness on medical service-related policies, suggesting that education programs on the government policies should be promoted among the population.