Incentive payments for hospitals and clinics for opening during the Lunar New Year holiday reduced emergency room visits by 25 percent from the holiday period last year, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said yesterday.
After emergency rooms reported overcrowding during the Lunar New Year holiday last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare in the second half of last year began preparing to avoid the problem again this year.
To help address the issue, it allocated NT$1.6 billion (US$50.13 million) in bonuses for hospitals and primary care clinics that opened during the holiday, allowing people seeking medical care options other than emergency rooms.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
NHI payments for emergency room, and inpatient diagnostic, nursing and pharmaceutical service fees were doubled, while diagnostic and pharmaceutical service fees at clinics were increased by 30 to 100 percent, depending on the day of the Lunar New Year.
In the five days from Lunar New Year’s Eve on Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, there were on average 20 percent more hospitals operating compared with the equivalent five-day period a year earlier, NHIA data showed.
The increase for clinics over the same period averaged 5.8 percent, while it was 14 percent for pharmacies, the data showed.
In the six days from Feb. 16 to Feb. 21, there were about 850,000 outpatient visits nationwide, an increase of nearly 30 percent compared with about 660,000 visits in the corresponding period last year, the data showed.
There were about 170,000 emergency room visits in the six-day period last month, a reduction of more than 25 percent compared with about 230,000 last year, the data showed.
Emergency-room visits for cardiovascular events or cancer-related illness remained about the same as last year, while visits for less-severe issues such as flu-like illness or diarrhea reduced significantly, the NHIA said.
The data indicate that the policy effectively relieved emergency room overcrowding, preserving resources for critical injuries and illnesses, the agency said.
NHIA Director-General Chen Lian-yu (陳亮妤) said that it was the first time the agency had used “other services” funding to support incentive payments.
Other steps it took to address the overcrowding issue included allowing people with prescriptions for chronic illnesses to refill them 14 days in advance to ensure they did not run out of medication during the Lunar New Year holiday, Chen said.
The NHIA’s mobile app added a Lunar New Year section, allowing people to conveniently check which hospitals and clinics were open during the holiday, the agency said.
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