Analyzing Patterns of One-Stop Visits in Taiwan
Author Information
Author(s): Tu Chun-Yi, Chen Tzeng-Ji, Chou Li-Fang
Primary Institution: National Yang-Ming University
Hypothesis
What are the frequency and patterns of one-stop visits in Taiwan's healthcare system?
Conclusion
The study reveals diverse patterns of specialty combinations in one-stop visits, highlighting the need for integrated healthcare services.
Supporting Evidence
- One-stop visits occurred 144,132 times and involved 296,822 visits by 66,294 persons.
- People aged 80 and above had the highest percentage of one-stop visits at 27.5%.
- Women were more likely to have one-stop visits than men, with rates of 7.2% vs. 6.0%.
Takeaway
In Taiwan, people can visit multiple doctors in one day at the same place, which can be convenient but might lead to too many medications.
Methodology
The study used claims datasets from 1 million people and frequent itemsets mining to analyze one-stop visits.
Limitations
The study could not explore socioeconomic factors, referral data, or the influence of disease types due to privacy restrictions.
Participant Demographics
The cohort included 504,183 women and 495,817 men, with a significant portion being elderly.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Want to read the original?
Access the complete publication on the publisher's website