Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of China
Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a great challenge to the healthcare system. This study evaluated the impact of the pandemic on the utilization of primary healthcare (PHC). Methods The outpatient data from 158 PHC institutions in Yinchuan from May 1, 2017 to Ap...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Kerman University of Medical Sciences
2022-09-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
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| Online Access: | https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4113_f5e9150dab2173877a33cc8b5b79e70d.pdf |
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| author | Lu Xu Lin Zhuo Jie Zhang Wu Yang Guozhen Liu Siyan Zhan Shengfeng Wang Huijie Xiao |
| author_facet | Lu Xu Lin Zhuo Jie Zhang Wu Yang Guozhen Liu Siyan Zhan Shengfeng Wang Huijie Xiao |
| author_sort | Lu Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a great challenge to the healthcare system. This study evaluated the impact of the pandemic on the utilization of primary healthcare (PHC). Methods The outpatient data from 158 PHC institutions in Yinchuan from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2020 were used. The difference in difference (DID) model was used to analyze the difference in the number of outpatient visits per day, total outpatient expenditure per day, and outpatient expenditure per visit between December 2019 and February 2020 compared with the same periods in two previous years. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modelling was used to investigate the association between the outpatient volume and the number of the last week’s new COVID-19 cases in Yinchuan, Ningxia, and China. Results From December 2019 to February 2020, the decline in the number of outpatient visits per day (DID: -367.21 times, P = .004) was larger than that in two previous years, and a similar trend can be seen in the outpatient expenditure per day. However, the rise in the outpatient expenditure per visit (DID: 19.06 thousand yuan, P = .003) was larger than that in two previous years. In 2020, the outpatient visits for most types of diseases decreased from week 3 and rebounded after week 5. The decline and rebound of outpatient visits in the population aged 45 years and older were steeper than in those younger. The outpatient volume was negatively associated with the number of the last week’s new COVID-19 cases. Conclusion This study indicated a significant impact of the pandemic on PHC service utilization. Since PHC service is the foundation of the healthcare system in most developing countries, measures should be taken to make PHC help cope with the crisis and relieve the burden of hospital care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:28:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0498083403cd4c59aab8a7c7a709e2ec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2322-5939 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:28:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Kerman University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Health Policy and Management |
| spelling | doaj.art-0498083403cd4c59aab8a7c7a709e2ec2023-03-07T09:11:35ZengKerman University of Medical SciencesInternational Journal of Health Policy and Management2322-59392022-09-011191926193310.34172/ijhpm.2021.1194113Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of ChinaLu Xu0Lin Zhuo1Jie Zhang2Wu Yang3Guozhen Liu4Siyan Zhan5Shengfeng Wang6Huijie Xiao7Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaResearch Center of Clinical Epidemiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, ChinaMaternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Yinchuan, ChinaMaternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Yinchuan, ChinaPeking University Health Information Technology Co. Ltd, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Paediatrics, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, ChinaBackground The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a great challenge to the healthcare system. This study evaluated the impact of the pandemic on the utilization of primary healthcare (PHC). Methods The outpatient data from 158 PHC institutions in Yinchuan from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2020 were used. The difference in difference (DID) model was used to analyze the difference in the number of outpatient visits per day, total outpatient expenditure per day, and outpatient expenditure per visit between December 2019 and February 2020 compared with the same periods in two previous years. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modelling was used to investigate the association between the outpatient volume and the number of the last week’s new COVID-19 cases in Yinchuan, Ningxia, and China. Results From December 2019 to February 2020, the decline in the number of outpatient visits per day (DID: -367.21 times, P = .004) was larger than that in two previous years, and a similar trend can be seen in the outpatient expenditure per day. However, the rise in the outpatient expenditure per visit (DID: 19.06 thousand yuan, P = .003) was larger than that in two previous years. In 2020, the outpatient visits for most types of diseases decreased from week 3 and rebounded after week 5. The decline and rebound of outpatient visits in the population aged 45 years and older were steeper than in those younger. The outpatient volume was negatively associated with the number of the last week’s new COVID-19 cases. Conclusion This study indicated a significant impact of the pandemic on PHC service utilization. Since PHC service is the foundation of the healthcare system in most developing countries, measures should be taken to make PHC help cope with the crisis and relieve the burden of hospital care.https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4113_f5e9150dab2173877a33cc8b5b79e70d.pdfcovid-19outpatientsprimary healthcareutilizationtemporal trend |
| spellingShingle | Lu Xu Lin Zhuo Jie Zhang Wu Yang Guozhen Liu Siyan Zhan Shengfeng Wang Huijie Xiao Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of China International Journal of Health Policy and Management covid-19 outpatients primary healthcare utilization temporal trend |
| title | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of China |
| title_full | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of China |
| title_fullStr | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of China |
| title_short | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outpatient Service in Primary Healthcare Institutions: An Inspiration From Yinchuan of China |
| title_sort | impact of the covid 19 pandemic on outpatient service in primary healthcare institutions an inspiration from yinchuan of china |
| topic | covid-19 outpatients primary healthcare utilization temporal trend |
| url | https://www.ijhpm.com/article_4113_f5e9150dab2173877a33cc8b5b79e70d.pdf |
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