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Day hospital fees and accessibility of essential health services
Insights
Increased day hospital fees led to fewer patient visits, resulting in more hospital admissions and higher costs. Fee structures need review for affordability, especially for low-income patients.
Area of Science:
- Health economics
- Public health policy
Background:
- Day hospital services are crucial for managing chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and asthma.
- Rising patient fees can create barriers to accessing essential healthcare services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the impact of day hospital fee increases on patient attendance and subsequent health outcomes.
- To evaluate the affordability of current fee structures for low-income populations.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of patient attendance data before and after fee increases.
- Assessment of patient care seeking behavior post-fee adjustment.
- Review of fee structures in relation to inflation and patient income levels.
Main Results:
- A significant decrease in attendance by hypertensive, diabetic, and asthmatic patients following fee hikes.
- Most non-attending patients did not seek alternative medical care, leading to increased hospital admissions.
- Patient fees have escalated beyond the inflation rate over the last decade.
Conclusions:
- Day hospital fee increases negatively impact access to care for chronic disease patients.
- Unaffordable fees contribute to delayed treatment, increased hospitalizations, and elevated healthcare costs.
- A review and adjustment of the tariff structure are necessary to ensure equitable access for low-income patients.
Abstract:
Day hospital fee increases in April 1984 were followed by a fall in hypertensive, diabetic and asthmatic patients' attendances at the Bishop Lavis Day Hospital. The majority of the patients attending less often for treatment were not receiving medical care elsewhere, which resulted in a large number of hospital admissions with increased financial and long-term health costs for the patients. Increases in patient fees at the day hospitals have been far in excess of the inflation rate over the past 10 years, and a review of the tariff structure is required to bring fees to levels which are affordable by low-income patients.