New Environmental Research and Public Health Study Findings Have Been Reported by Researchers at Taipei Veterans General Hospital (Continuity of Physicians’ Dedication to Inpatient Hospice and Palliative Care: A 14-year Nationwide Survey in …)

2019 SEP 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Taiwan Daily Report -- Research findings on Environmental Health - Environmental Research and Public Health are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Taipei, Taiwan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The work continuity of physicians in hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) has a great impact on the quality of care and practice experiences. However, nationwide studies providing a general overview of the work continuity of HPM physicians are scarce.”

Funders for this research include Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Taipei Veterans General Hospital, “Data relating to inpatient HPM care provided from July 2000 to December 2013 were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. Specifically, the numbers of hospitals, patients, patient hospitalization days, and physicians involving HPM in each year were calculated. The years of HPM work experience and total HPM workdays of each physician were also computed. Of the 40,965,153 inpatient records during the study, 121,258 (0.3%) records were related to inpatient HPM care, with 60 participating hospitals and 604 attending physicians. The annual number of HPM physicians increased with time from 77 in 2000 to 217 in 2013. The largest percentage (38.4%) of physicians practiced HPM for only one year, while only 23 (3.8%) physicians practiced HPM in each year without interruption. Of the 217 HPM physicians in 2013, 45 (20.7%) were newcomers, 78 (36.0%) had 1-4 years of prior HPM work experience, 54 (24.9%) had 5-9 years, and 40 (18.4%) had at least 10 years. Among HPM physicians in Taiwan, only a small percentage exhibited long-term dedication to the field, whereas most HPM physicians had short practice periods.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “More strategies are needed to improve work continuity among HPM physicians.”

For more information on this research see: Continuity of Physicians’ Dedication to Inpatient Hospice and Palliative Care: A 14-year Nationwide Survey in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019;16(16):2932.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Y.J. Wang, Dept. of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, No 201, Sec 2, Shi-Pai Road, Taipei 112, Taiwan. Additional authors for this research include M.H. Lin, H.T. Chang, Y.J. Wang, T.J. Chen, L.F. Chou and S.J Hwang.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16162932. 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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