Impact of post-COVID-19 changes in outpatient chronic patients' healthcare-seeking behaviors on medical utilization and health outcomes.

IF 2.7 3区 经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS
Wei-Lun Huang, Shu-Lang Liao, Hsueh-Ling Huang, Pei-Ju Tsai, Hsin-Hsun Huang, Chien-Yu Lu, Wei-Sho Ho
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Abstract

Introduction: This study comprehensively investigates the changes in healthcare utilization among chronic patients with regular outpatient visits to hospitals after the occurrence of Covid-19. The research examines whether patients altered their originally regular medical attendance frequencies due to the pandemic and explores potential negative impacts on the health conditions of those irregular attendees post-pandemic.

Methods: Data for this study were sourced from a database at a medical center in Taiwan. The subjects were chronic patients with regular hospital outpatient visits before the Covid-19 outbreak. The study tracked medical utilization patterns from 2017 to 2022 for different patient characteristics and outpatient behaviors, employing statistical methods such as Repeated Measures ANOVA and Generalized Estimating Equation to analyze changes in healthcare utilization and health status during the post-pandemic period.

Results: The results reveal that, compared to the regular group, chronic patients with irregular outpatient visits during the post-pandemic period exhibited a decrease of 5.85 annual outpatient visits, a reduction of NT$20,290.1 in annual medical expenses, and a significantly higher abnormality rate in average biochemical test results by 0.9%.

Conclusions: The findings contribute to understanding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare utilization and health conditions among outpatient chronic disease populations. In response to the new medical landscape in the post-pandemic era, proactive suggestions are made, including providing telemedicine outpatient services and referral-based medical care to meet the needs of the target population, ensuring a continuous and reassuring healthcare model for chronic patients, and mitigating the operational impacts of public health emergencies on hospitals.

COVID-19 后门诊慢性病患者就医行为的变化对医疗利用率和健康结果的影响。
简介本研究全面调查了Covid-19疫情发生后,定期到医院门诊就诊的慢性病患者在使用医疗服务方面的变化。研究探讨了患者是否因大流行而改变了其原本的固定就诊频率,并探讨了大流行后对这些不固定就诊者的健康状况可能产生的负面影响:本研究的数据来自台湾一家医疗中心的数据库。研究对象是在 Covid-19 爆发前定期到医院门诊就诊的慢性病患者。研究追踪了2017年至2022年不同患者特征和门诊行为的医疗利用模式,采用重复测量方差分析和广义估计方程等统计方法,分析疫情后医疗利用和健康状况的变化:结果显示,与正常组相比,大流行后不定期门诊的慢性病患者年门诊量减少5.85人次,年医疗费用减少20290.1元,平均生化检验结果异常率显著增加0.9%:这些研究结果有助于了解 Covid-19 大流行对门诊慢性病患者的医疗利用率和健康状况的影响。针对后大流行时代的医疗新格局,提出了积极的建议,包括提供远程医疗门诊服务和基于转诊的医疗服务,以满足目标人群的需求,确保为慢性病患者提供持续和放心的医疗保健模式,以及减轻突发公共卫生事件对医院运营的影响。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
3.90
自引率
4.20%
发文量
59
审稿时长
13 weeks
期刊介绍: Health Economics Review is an international high-quality journal covering all fields of Health Economics. A broad range of theoretical contributions, empirical studies and analyses of health policy with a health economic focus will be considered for publication. Its scope includes macro- and microeconomics of health care financing, health insurance and reimbursement as well as health economic evaluation, health services research and health policy analysis. Further research topics are the individual and institutional aspects of health care management and the growing importance of health care in developing countries.
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