Research from Ajou University Provides New Study Findings on Environmental Research and Public Health (Cost of Care and Pattern of Medical Care Use in the Last Year of Life among Long-Term Care Insurance Beneficiaries in South Korea: Using …)

Hospital & Nursing Home Daily

2020 DEC 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital & Nursing Home Daily -- Research findings on environmental research and public health are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting out of Suwon, South Korea, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “In Korea, a substantial proportion of long-term care insurance (LTCI) beneficiaries die within 1 year of seeking the benefit.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Ajou University: “This study was conducted to evaluate the pattern of medical care use and care cost during the last year of life among Korean LTCI beneficiaries between 2009 and 2013 using the national claims data. The National Health Insurance’s Senior (NHIS-Senior) cohort was used for this retrospective study. The participants were LTCI beneficiaries aged 65 or over as of 2008 who died between 2009 and 2013 (* * N* * = 30,433). Medical costs during the last year of life were highest for those who used both medical care services and long-term care (LTC) services and increased as death approached. About half of the participants were hospitalized at the time of death. The use of LTC services at the time of death increased from 13.0 to 22.8%, while those who died at home decreased from 34 to 20%.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “This study suggests that the use of LTC services did not reduce medical costs by substituting unnecessary inpatient hospitalization. Quality of dying should be considered one of the goals of older adult care, and provisions should be made for palliative care at home or LTC facilities.”

For more information on this research see: Cost of Care and Pattern of Medical Care Use in the Last Year of Life among Long-Term Care Insurance Beneficiaries in South Korea: Using National Claims Data. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020,17(9078):9078. (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph). The publisher for International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is MDPI AG.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239078.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Sunjoo Boo, Research Institute of Nursing Science, College of Nursing, Ajou University, Suwon 16499, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Jungah Lee, Hyunjin Oh.