Taiwan lags behind nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regarding the prevention of premature births and low birthweights as well as the patient-doctor experience, according to a report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In the Population Health and Welfare Quality Indicators Report, which tracked data from 2009 to 2017, the ministry measured 65 indicators in 13 categories, comparing the results with those of OECD nations.
Regarding patient-doctor experiences, the ministry looked at whether doctors in Taiwan spent enough time with patients, gave simple and straightforward explanations, and allowed patients to participate in treatment and care decisions.
Patients were most dissatisfied with the length of doctors’ visits and with doctors’ explanations of their condition, the report said, adding that Taiwan ranked sixth on satisfaction with doctors’ visits and last on satisfaction with doctors’ explanations compared with OECD nations.
The National Health Insurance (NHI) system is not a “gatekeeper system” and people are free to seek out medical care, meaning that Taiwanese are more likely to have more doctors’ visits than patients in other nations and further limiting the length of the visits, the report said.
In Taiwan, doctors have authority and patients typically obey their orders without questioning them, it said.
A lack of health literacy might also impede communication between patients and doctors, it added.
In OECD nations, people see a doctor less than five times per year, whereas Taiwanese see a doctor more than 10 times per year, National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) said on Sept. 7.
As this limits the length of visits, the ministry is encouraging people to seek healthcare at clinics, before hospitals, and to forgo unnecessary exams, he said.
“Many conditions can be treated at clinics,” he said. “Furthermore, minor colds do not require a visit to the doctor.”
The proportion of premature births and newborns with low birth weights in Taiwan was higher than in many OECD countries, the report showed.
The report said that 9.3 percent of Taiwanese births in 2010 were premature — ranking Taiwan No. 29 compared with 31 OECD nations — and 9 percent of Taiwanese babies born in 2015 had low birth weights — ranking Taiwan No. 39 compared with 40 OECD nations, the report said.
Only 9.4 percent of children aged two or younger in 2015 were enrolled in childcare, it added.
However, the NHI performed in the upper tier when it came to primary and emergency care, and the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases, the report said.
Taiwan has near-total health insurance coverage, it added.
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