Appropriations for “appropriate” visits: Payment denials for emergency department care

Lee²

2020

Preprint

Background: The goal of this study was to examine the effect of hospital emergency department (ED) regionalization policy and the categorization of hospital emergency care policy (categorization policy) on patient appropriate ED use.Methods: We conducted an observational study of the effect of emergency care policy intervention on patients' visits. Seven years of data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) were examined. Taiwan implemented a nationwide three-tiered hospital ED regionalization and categorization policies in 2007 and 2009, respectively. There were 1,835,860 ED visits found among one million random samples from the NHIRD between 2005 and 2011. ED visits were categorized by the modified New York University ED algorithm. A time series analysis was performed to examine the change in the rate of appropriate ED use after the policy took effect.Results: Total ED visits increased by 10.7% from 2005 to 2011. Average appropriate ED visit rate was 66.9% during the policy intervention. The trend in the appropriate ED visit rate showed no significant policy effect.Conclusions: Provider side of regionalization and categorization policies did increase emergency care accessibility. However, regionalization and categorization policies no significant effect on patient appropriate ED use.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Effectiveness of Hospital Emergency Department Regionalization and Categorization Policy on Appropriate Patient Emergency Care Use - A nationwide long-term observational study in Taiwan

Lee²

2020

Preprint

“…We examined the effects of provider-related policy and disclosure of related information on improving patients' appropriate ED use and found that this policy goal was unmet. We agree with Smulowitz's suggestion [66] to reshape emergency care and extend medical emergency services to meet patients' needs, such as offering real-time "face-to-face" telehealth to provide medical recommendations to support patient decision-making, and relieve patient anxiety, implementing an access policy that combines primary and ED care data without time or location limitations [67,68].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Effectiveness of Hospital Emergency Department Regionalization and Categorization Policy on Appropriate Patient Emergency Care Use: A Nationwide Observational Study in Taiwan

Lee

2020

Preprint

Background: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a health services issue worldwide. Modern health policy emphasizes appropriate health services utilization. However, the relationship between accessibility, capability, and appropriateness of ED use is unknown. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effect of hospital ED regionalization policy and categorization of hospital emergency capability policy (categorization policy) on patient-appropriate ED use.Methods: Taiwan implemented a nationwide three-tiered hospital ED regionalization and categorization of hospital emergency capability policies in 2007 and 2009, respectively. We conducted a retrospective observational study on the effect of emergency care policy intervention on patient visit. Between 2005 and 2011, the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database recorded 1,835,860 ED visits from one million random samples. ED visits were categorized using the Yang-Ming modified New York University-ED algorithm. A time series analysis was performed to examine the change in appropriate ED use rate after policy implementation.Results: From 2005 to 2011, total ED visits increased by 10.7%. After policy implementation, the average appropriate ED visit rate was 66.9%. The intervention had no significant effect on the trend of appropriate ED visit rate.Conclusions: Although regionalization and categorization policies did increase emergency care accessibility, it had no significant effect on patient-appropriate ED use. Further research is required to improve data-driven policymaking.

Effectiveness of hospital emergency department regionalization and categorization policy on appropriate patient emergency care use: a nationwide observational study in Taiwan

Lee²

2021

BMC Health Serv Res

Background Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a health services issue worldwide. Modern health policy emphasizes appropriate health services utilization. However, the relationship between accessibility, capability, and appropriateness of ED use is unknown. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effect of hospital ED regionalization policy and categorization of hospital emergency capability policy (categorization policy) on patient-appropriate ED use. Methods Taiwan implemented a nationwide three-tiered hospital ED regionalization and categorization of hospital emergency capability policies in 2007 and 2009, respectively. We conducted a retrospective observational study on the effect of emergency care policy intervention on patient visit. Between 2005 and 2011, the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database recorded 1,835,860 ED visits from 1 million random samples. ED visits were categorized using the Yang-Ming modified New York University-ED algorithm. A time series analysis was performed to examine the change in appropriate ED use rate after policy implementation. Results From 2005 to 2011, total ED visits increased by 10.7%. After policy implementation, the average appropriate ED visit rate was 66.9%. The intervention had no significant effect on the trend of appropriate ED visit rate. Conclusions Although regionalization and categorization policies did increase emergency care accessibility, it had no significant effect on patient-appropriate ED use. Further research is required to improve data-driven policymaking.