Researchers from Tainan Municipal Hospital Report Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Medical Fees (Analysis of Outpatient Medical Services for Correctional Institution’s Inmates Entitled To National Health Insurance: a Prison In …): Medical Economics – Medical Fees

2022 APR 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Business Daily -- Research findings on Medical Economics - Medical Fees are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting originating from Tainan, Taiwan, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To formulate better future policies, this study aims to understand the outpatient services provided in a prison in Southern Taiwan by the contracted hospital in two phases. Data were analyzed through the outpatient medical services performed by the contracted hospitals in prison in two phases (2013-2015 and 2016-2018).”

Financial support for this research came from Tainan Municipal Hospital.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Tainan Municipal Hospital, “SPSS 20.0 software was used to analyze data such as age, medical fees, department, outpatient visits, average number of visits per patient, and common diseases. The average age of the treated inmates was 49.34 and 47.04 years in the first and second phases, respectively. Most patients belong in the age group of 41-50 years. The number of medical visits per person increased from 15.6 to 20.6 visits. The average medical fee per visit increased from NTD 748 to NTD 775, and the average days of medication per visit decreased from 14 to 13 days. Commonly visited were family medicine, general medicine, orthopedics, and psychiatry departments. Disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue was the first common disease in both phases, and hypertension was the most common disease. The number of medical visits and the average medical fee increased. The medical cost of inmates is higher than the generally insured individuals. If environmental conditions in the correctional facility are improved, the consumption of medical resources will be reduced.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “There should be a complete therapy and medical treatment plan for mentally ill inmates for a successful return to the society after serving time.”

For more information on this research see: Analysis of Outpatient Medical Services for Correctional Institution’s Inmates Entitled To National Health Insurance: a Prison In Taiwan. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association, 2021;120(2):804-809. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association can be contacted at: Elsevier Taiwan, Rm N-412, 4F, Chia Hsin Building 11, No 96, Zhong Shan N Road Sec 2, Taipei, 10449, Taiwan. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Journal of the Formosan Medical Association - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-the-formosan-medical-association/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kuo-Mou Chung, Tainan Municipal Hospital, Superintendent Off, Tainan, Taiwan. Additional authors for this research include Yu-Hua Yan and Liang-Miin Tsai.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfma.2020.07.039. 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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