Investigators from Tehran University of Medical Sciences Have Reported New Data on COVID-19 (Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic On a Private Health Insurance): Coronavirus – COVID-19

2023 FEB 21 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at CDC & FDA Daily -- Data detailed on Coronavirus - COVID-19 have been presented. According to news originating from Tehran, Iran, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The covid-19 pandemic has affected the health insurance industry in numerous ways. The present study aimed to examine the impacts of the covid-19 on the referral times of insurance policyholders to hospitals and diagnostic centers throughout the country.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, “This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on the data collected from a private insurance company. The statistical population included all insured individuals covered by the insurer in 31 provinces throughout the country who have used the services provided in hospitals and other diagnostic centers from March 21, 2019 to September 21, 2019 (1,699,930 insured people), considered as the pre-covid-19 incidence period, and from March 20, 2020 to September 20, 2020 (1,862,657 insured people), as the post-covid-19 incidence period. Data were analyzed using the SPSS and GIS statistical software. In the 2019 half-year, 10,416,591 medical expense records have been filed in the country, which decreased by 17.1% in the same period in 2020 to 8,633,613 records. The average referral times in the pre-covid-19 period was 7.02, which decreased by 32.9% during the post-covid-19 period, falling to 4.71. The overall frequency of referrals to receive all services covered by the insurer, including visits, medicine, hospital services (general surgeries), and laboratory services in the post-covid-19 period decreased significantly, compared to a similar period in the previous year. It seems that in many different provinces, non-emergency patients avoided referring to healthcare centers and unnecessary visits to medical centers.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Moreover, the number of general surgeries decreased because of the therapists’ cautiousness and the changing behaviors of the patients, making diagnostic and medical services more real.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic On a Private Health Insurance. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 2022;24(10). Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal can be contacted at: Zamensalamati Publ Co, Khorasan, Mashhad, Sanabad-Ebne Sina St, Mashhad, Iran.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Sajad Ramandi, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, School of Public Health, Hlth Econ, Tehran, Iran. Additional authors for this research include Ali Mohammad Mosadeghrad, Pirhossein Kolivand and Mahya Abbasi.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.32592/ircmj.2022.24.10.2134. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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