The Evaluation of Professional Divisions of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Taiwan through Patient Visit Records of 2012

Abstract

For decades, professional divisions have been represented as the main structural divisions in Western medicine throughout the world. In Taiwan, medical policymakers are also interested in designing professional divisions of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Therefore, this study evaluated the current status and potentiality of professional divisions of TCM in Taiwan using data from the year 2012 obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database; the database provides information regarding age and gender of TCM physicians (TCMPs); total visit counts; contracted medical institution codes; groupings of diseases classified under International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes; numbers of children and female patients seeking treatment; and claim disposition codes used by each TCMP. The results indicated that there were 5522 TCMPs in 2012, and 4876 (90.3%) TCMPs practiced in primary clinics. The proportions of pediatric visits to these TCMPs were mostly below 0.2, and acupuncture or traumatology-related visit proportions were below 0.5. Only a few of the studied Taiwan-based TCMPs practiced gynecology and pediatrics, but most of them performed “internal medicine”, or “acupuncture” or “traumatology” treatments. Thus, the number of TCM specialists practicing gynecology or pediatrics is insufficient, indicating that a policy that forms professional divisions of TCM practitioners in Taiwan should be reconsidered.

A Comprehensive Evaluation of China's TCM Medical Service System: An Empirical Research by Integrated Factor Analysis and TOPSIS

“…The TCM medical service system refers to the TCM health resources of TCM medical institutions and other medical institutions, which are formed in the process of providing TCM medical services (9). As the average resources of TCM medical institutions are relatively weak, development is uneven, and their service functions are limited, which further indicates that improving the TCM medical service system in China is the primary task for the development of TCM (10,11). Only if the evaluation indexes of the TCM medical service system are determined, can we develop the TCM medical service correctly and reasonably.…”

The importance of patient's experience and its impact on healthcare system for people received Chinese medicine

“…Most patients perceive Western medicine as having faster effects with a well-founded evidence base (such as in cancer therapy), while TCM involves not only the treatment of disease but also adjusting to the wholebody situation of the patients [11]. In Taiwan, majority of TCM is offered in primary clinics, which provides by 90.3% of TCM physicians [12,13]. Interestingly, a high proportion of patients simultaneously used both a conventional drug and TCM therapy [14,15].…”