Participation in the Bureau of National Health Insurance’s family doctor program has hit 23.8 percent, with participants requiring fewer consultations, emergency visits and hospital stays, and a preventive health screening rate better than the national average, BNHI Chief Secretary Cai Shu-ling said Jan. 9.
Established in 2003, the program now covered 11 percent of the population, with annual receipts of NT$1 billion (US$34.3 million), she said.
With about 72.4 percent of outpatient consultations taking place in basic local medical facilities, the number of outpatient visits, emergency visits and inpatient stays fell by 8.8 percent, 7.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, from 2010 to 2011, Cai said.
Preventive health care screening and treatment rates are also higher for family doctors than the national average for local clinics, Cai said. For example, the adult health examination rate was 48.84 percent for family doctors compared to the national average of 34.1 percent; for the pap smears the rate was 31.4 percent versus 27.4 percent; for colorectal cancer screening it was 43.25 percent as opposed to 36.55 percent; and for flu injections for the elderly it was 38.51 percent versus 34.69 percent.
“The family doctor is like a good neighbor, taking charge of the health of the whole family with a community-based, patient-centered approach that can provide comprehensive and continuous care,” Cai said.
Once someone has registered with a family doctor, the doctor will be able to immediately and directly provide optimal treatment based on the patient’s medical history. People who go directly to the hospital may encounter long waits, brief consultations and the possibility of superficial symptom-based treatment due to the doctor’s incomplete understanding of the patient’s medical history, Cai added. (SDH)