Objective: To analyze the research hotspots and frontiers of the health economy field of the past 20 years，and provide references for the research of China' s health economy field. Methods: Based on CNKI and Web of Science (WoS)，and using CiteSpace visualization analysis software to analyze the authors，institutions and keywords of related researches and works in the field of health economy research of the past 20 years. Results: The number of articles published in Chinese has been lingering at a certain level，while the number of articles published in English has kept increasing rapidly. Regional characteristics can be seen in the relatively well-conducted researches and cooperation among research institutions of domestic teams，among which the team of Shandong Province is the representative. The United States，Britain，India，Australia and Canada have many research achievements in this field. The researches of health economy in China are mainly focused on the allocation of health resources，the analysis of economic burden of disease，and the management mode of hospitals，while the researches of health economy in foreign countries are relatively broader. Conclusion: Domestic health economic research started with macro market economy and health reform research，and evolved to mid-term research on cost accounting，medical costs，health supervision and hospital management models within hospitals，and now extend to economic growth，health economy and economic burden. The hotspot of health economics research abroad in recent years has been the impact of unexpected major public health events on health economics.