Investigators from Catholic University of Korea Target Health Insurance (Having a usual source of care and its associated factors in Korean adults: a…

Managed Care Weekly Digest

Investigators from Catholic University of Korea Target Health Insurance (Having a usual source of care and its associated factors in Korean adults: a cross-sectional study of the 2012 Korea Health Panel Survey)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- A new study on Health Insurance is now available. According to news reporting originating in Seoul, South Korea, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "Usual source of care (USC) is one of the hallmarks of primary care. We aimed to examine the status of having a USC and its patient-related sociodemographic factors among Korean adults."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the Catholic University of Korea, "Data were obtained from the 2012 Korea Health Panel survey. Panel participants were selected for the study who were aged 18 years or older and who replied to questionnaire items on having a USC (n = 11,935). Of the participants, 21.5% had a usual place and 13.9% had a usual physician. Reasons for not having a USC were seldom being ill (66.1%), the preference to visit multiple medical institutions (27.9%), and others. The private community clinic was the most common type of usual place (57.0%). In patient-reported attributes of care provided by a usual physician, the percentages of positive responses for comprehensiveness and coordination were 67.2% and 34.5%, respectively. By institution type, primary care clinics showed the lowest percentage (32.8%) of positive responses for coordination. Adjusted odds ratios of having a usual physician were 3.77 (95% confidence interval, CI: 3.75-3.79) for those aged 65 years or older (vs. aged 18-34 years), 1.31 (CI: 1.30-1.31) for females (vs. males), 0.72 (CI: 0.72-0.73) for unmarried people (vs. married), 1.16 (CI: 1.16-1.16) for college graduates or higher (vs. elementary school graduate or less), 0.64 for the fifth quintile (vs. the first quintile) by household income, 1.53 (CI: 1. 52-1.54) for Medical Aid (vs. employee health insurance) for type of health insurance, and 4.09 (CI: 4.08-4.10) for presence (vs. absence) of a chronic diseases. The proportion of Korean adults who have a USC is extremely low, the most influential factor of having a USC is having a chronic disease or not, and Korean patients experience much poorer health care coordination than do patients in other industrialized countries."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "The findings of this study will give insight to researchers and policy makers regarding the potential facilitators of and barriers to promoting having a USC in the general Korean public."

For more information on this research see: Having a usual source of care and its associated factors in Korean adults: a cross-sectional study of the 2012 Korea Health Panel Survey. BMC Family Practice, 2016;17():8-15. BMC Family Practice can be contacted at: Biomed Central Ltd, 236 Grays Inn Rd, Floor 6, London WC1X 8HL, England. (BioMed Central - www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Family Practice - www.biomedcentral.com/bmcfampract/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J.H. Lee, Catholic University of Korea, Coll Med, Dept. of Family Med, Seoul 137701, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include K. Kim, J.H. Lee, N.J. Sung, S.I. Lee and M.K. Hyun (see also Health Insurance).

Keywords for this news article include: Seoul, South Korea, Asia, Health Insurance, Asia, Catholic University of Korea.