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Healthcare Service Utilization for Practicing Physicians: A Population-Based Study.

ABSTRACT: Physicians are considered to be the most informed consumers in the use of medical services since they have more information about diseases or medical technology. However, although plenty of researchers have suggested that different medical seeking behavior exists among physicians, very few empirical studies have been conducted to investigate differences in medical utilization between physicians and the general population.We explored differences in the utilization of healthcare services between physicians and the general population using a population-based dataset.A cross-sectional study.Data for this study were sourced from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. We included 1426 physicians and 1426 sex- and age-matched comparison subjects.We used Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests to explore differences in variables of healthcare resource utilization between physicians and comparison subjects. We further used Kruskal-Wallis tests to examine differences in variables of healthcare resource utilization between physician practice location and comparison subjects.We found that physicians had significantly fewer outpatient visits (13.2 vs. 15.7, p<0.001) and significantly lower outpatient costs (US$477 vs. US$680, p<0.001) than comparison subjects. Furthermore, physicians had lower total health service costs than comparison subjects (US$643 vs. US$1066, p<0.001). This indicates that the mean total health service costs in the year 2010 was 1.66-fold greater for comparison subjects than for physicians. We also found that there were significant differences in the mean number of outpatient services (p<0.001), outpatient costs (p = 0.001), inpatients costs (p = 0.018), and total costs (p = 0.001) among office-based physicians, hospital-based physicians, and comparison subjects. Specifically, Scheffe contrast tests showed that office-based physicians had significantly more outpatient visits (19.3 vs.10.7, p<0.001) and significantly higher outpatient costs (US$656 vs. US$402, p<0.001) than hospital-based physicians.Physicians had less healthcare utilization than comparison subjects. Furthermore, hospital-based physicians had higher inpatient costs and less outpatient services and costs than office-based physicians.

SUBMITTER: Chiu YL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4709064 | biostudies-other | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BACKGROUND: The majority of previous studies investigating the health care utilization of people with dementia were conducted in Western societies. There is little information on the economic burden on the healthcare system attributable to dementia in Asian countries. This study thus investigated differences in utilization of healthcare services between subjects with and those without a diagnosis of dementia using Taiwan's National Health Insurance population-based database. METHODS: This study comprised 5,666 subjects with a dementia diagnosis and 5,666 age- and gender-matched comparison subjects without a dementia diagnosis. We individually followed each subject for a 1-year period starting from their index date to evaluate their healthcare resource utilization. Healthcare resource utilization included the number of outpatient visits and inpatient days, and the mean costs of outpatient and inpatient treatments. In addition, we divided healthcare resource utilization into psychiatric and non-psychiatric services. RESULTS: As for utilization of psychiatric services, subjects with a dementia diagnosis had significantly more outpatient visits (2.2 vs. 0.3, p<0.001) and significantly higher outpatient costs (US$124 vs. US$16, p<0.001) than comparison subjects. For non-psychiatric services, subjects with a dementia diagnosis also had significantly more outpatient visits (34.4 vs. 31.6, p<0.001) and significantly higher outpatient costs (US$1754 vs. US$1322, p<0.001) than comparison subjects. For all healthcare services, subjects with a dementia diagnosis had significantly more outpatient visits (36.7 vs. 32.0, p<0.001) and significantly higher outpatient costs (US$1878 vs. US$1338, p<0.001) than comparison subjects. Furthermore, the total cost was about 2-fold greater for subjects with a dementia diagnosis than for comparison subjects (US$3997 vs. US$2409, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that subjects who had received a clinical dementia diagnosis had significantly higher utilization of all healthcare services than comparison subjects.

Project description:BackgroundLonger-term consequences after SARS-CoV-2 infection are becoming an important burden to societies and healthcare systems. Data on post-COVID-19 syndrome in the general population are required for the timely planning of healthcare services and resources. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of impaired health status and physical and mental health symptoms among individuals at least six months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and to characterize their healthcare utilization.MethodsThis population-based prospective cohort study (Zurich SARS-CoV-2 Cohort) enrolled 431 adults from the general population with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection reported to health authorities between 27 February 2020 and 05 August 2020 in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. We evaluated the proportion of individuals reporting not to have fully recovered since SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the proportion reporting fatigue (Fatigue Assessment Scale), dyspnea (mMRC dyspnea scale) or depression (DASS-21) at six to eight months after diagnosis. Furthermore, the proportion of individuals with at least one healthcare contact after their acute illness was evaluated. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess factors associated with these main outcomes.ResultsSymptoms were present in 385 (89%) participants at diagnosis and 81 (19%) were initially hospitalized. At six to eight months, 111 (26%) reported not having fully recovered. 233 (55%) participants reported symptoms of fatigue, 96 (25%) had at least grade 1 dyspnea, and 111 (26%) had DASS-21 scores indicating symptoms of depression. 170 (40%) participants reported at least one general practitioner visit related to COVID-19 after acute illness, and 10% (8/81) of initially hospitalized individuals were rehospitalized. Individuals that have not fully recovered or suffer from fatigue, dyspnea or depression were more likely to have further healthcare contacts. However, a third of individuals (37/111) that have not fully recovered did not seek further care.ConclusionsIn this population-based study, a relevant proportion of participants suffered from longer-term consequences after SARS-CoV-2 infection. With millions infected across the world, our findings emphasize the need for the timely planning of resources and patient-centered services for post-COVID-19 care.

Project description:BackgroundTransportation costs can be a barrier to healthcare services, especially for low-income, disabled, elderly, and geographically isolated populations. This study aimed to estimate the transportation costs of healthcare service utilization and related influencing factors in Korea in 2016.MethodsTransportation costs were calculated using data from the 2016 Korea Health Panel Study. A total of 14,845 participants were included (males, 45.07%; females, 54.93%), among which 2,148 participants used inpatient and 14,787 used outpatient care services. Transportation costs were estimated by healthcare types, transportation modes, and all disease and injury groups that caused healthcare service utilization. The influencing factors of higher transportation costs were analyzed using multivariable regression analysis.ResultsIn 2016, the average transportation costs were United States dollars (USD) 43.70 (purchasing power parity [PPP], USD 32.35) per year and USD 27.67 (PPP, USD 20.48) per visit for inpatient care; for outpatient case, costs were USD 41.43 (PPP, USD 30.67) per year and USD 2.09 (PPP, USD 1.55) per visit. Among disease and injury groups, those with neoplasms incurred the highest transportation costs of USD 9.73 (PPP, USD 7.20). Both inpatient and outpatient annual transportation costs were higher among severely disabled individuals (inpatient, +USD 44.71; outpatient, +USD 23.73) and rural residents (inpatient, +USD 20.40; outpatient, +USD 28.66). Transportation costs per healthcare visit were influenced by healthcare coverage and residential area. Sex, age, and income were influencing factors of higher transportation costs for outpatient care.ConclusionTransportation cost burden was especially high among those with major non-communicable diseases (e.g., cancer) or living in rural areas, as well as elderly, severely disabled, and low-income populations. Thus, there is a need to address the socioeconomic disparities related to healthcare transportation costs in Korea by implementing targeted interventions in populations with restricted access to healthcare.

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Healthcare Service Utilization for Practicing Physicians: A Population-Based Study.

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