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Seniors to get integrated medical care

Starting on Dec. 1, integrated outpatient services are to be made available for senior citizens with chronic diseases at participating hospitals, the Bureau of National Health Insurance announced on Thursday. The bureau hopes the plan will save more than NT$3 billion (US$90 million) a year.

Medical Affairs Section Manager Tsai Shu-ling (蔡淑鈴) said the bureau is planning to allocate NT$700 million to the plan. The bureau was also encouraging qualified hospitals to participate.

Under the integrated outpatient service program, senior citizens with chronic diseases only need to make one stop at a hospital to get all their chronic diseases checked rather than making separate visits for each illness.

Tsai cited statistics gathered by Taipei Veterans General Hospital that showed that the average senior citizen suffers from 1.8 to 3.14 kinds of different chronic diseases, visiting 1.65 to 3.31 different departments when they report to hospital for outpatient services.

“On average, they each need to take at least 3.82 pills at a time,” Tsai said. “Taking so many drugs at the same time, it doesn’t take long before most of them start suffering from problems with their stomach, liver or kidney.”

Under the new program, repeat prescriptions would be avoided and medical services and resources would be better utilized, Tsai said.

Tsai said some hospitals might be reluctant to take part in the integrated outpatient service program because it means doctors from different departments would have to work together on the same patient, increasing the primary cost of outpatient services.
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