Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in Switzerland
INTRODUCTION In Switzerland, mandatory health insurance plans (standard) offer free access to secondary and emergency care. However, in return for a lower premium, individuals can choose alternative healthcare plans (HCPs), with either a general practitioner (GP) or a medical call centre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/2533 |
| _version_ | 1811194224800956416 |
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| author | Ellen Keizer Linda Huibers Morten Bondo Christensen Oliver Senn |
| author_facet | Ellen Keizer Linda Huibers Morten Bondo Christensen Oliver Senn |
| author_sort | Ellen Keizer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
INTRODUCTION
In Switzerland, mandatory health insurance plans (standard) offer free access to secondary and emergency care. However, in return for a lower premium, individuals can choose alternative healthcare plans (HCPs), with either a general practitioner (GP) or a medical call centre (Telmed) acting as gatekeeper.
AIM
To examine the impact of alternative HCPs on patients’ intended help-seeking behaviour out-of-hours (OOH) in Switzerland.
METHODS
A secondary analysis of the Swiss data collected for the EurOOHnet survey on help-seeking behaviour in Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland was made. The survey used hypothetical scenarios for measuring two outcome measures: intended help-seeking for (1) OOH care and (2) OOH face-to-face care. Binomial regression analyses were used to test the influence of HCPs on intended OOH help-seeking, adjusted for other (population) characteristics.
RESULTS
Telmed-insured persons were more inclined to OOH help-seeking than persons with a standard HCP (odds ratio [OR] 2.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.91–2.72; controlled for other population factors), mainly driven by contact with the medical call centre (31 vs 5%), and were less inclined to have an OOH face-to-face contact (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.55–0.87). Persons with a GP HCP had a lower intended use of face-to-face OOH care contacts than persons with a standard plan (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.63–0.86).
CONCLUSION
Alternative HCPs on a voluntary basis seem to influence the use of OOH care. These results could be relevant for policy makers, especially from non-gatekeeping countries, to reduce irrelevant use and subsequent costs of emergency and OOH care services.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:22:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8fde076009584f6eade4bfc3ad31df32 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-3997 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T00:22:21Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| spelling | doaj.art-8fde076009584f6eade4bfc3ad31df322022-12-22T03:55:41ZengSMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)Swiss Medical Weekly1424-39972018-10-01148434410.4414/smw.2018.14686Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in SwitzerlandEllen Keizer0Linda Huibers1Morten Bondo Christensen2Oliver Senn3Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich and University Hospital of Zurich, SwitzerlandResearch Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, DenmarkResearch Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, DenmarkInstitute of Primary Care, University of Zurich and University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland INTRODUCTION In Switzerland, mandatory health insurance plans (standard) offer free access to secondary and emergency care. However, in return for a lower premium, individuals can choose alternative healthcare plans (HCPs), with either a general practitioner (GP) or a medical call centre (Telmed) acting as gatekeeper. AIM To examine the impact of alternative HCPs on patients’ intended help-seeking behaviour out-of-hours (OOH) in Switzerland. METHODS A secondary analysis of the Swiss data collected for the EurOOHnet survey on help-seeking behaviour in Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland was made. The survey used hypothetical scenarios for measuring two outcome measures: intended help-seeking for (1) OOH care and (2) OOH face-to-face care. Binomial regression analyses were used to test the influence of HCPs on intended OOH help-seeking, adjusted for other (population) characteristics. RESULTS Telmed-insured persons were more inclined to OOH help-seeking than persons with a standard HCP (odds ratio [OR] 2.28, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.91–2.72; controlled for other population factors), mainly driven by contact with the medical call centre (31 vs 5%), and were less inclined to have an OOH face-to-face contact (OR 0.69, 95% CI 0.55–0.87). Persons with a GP HCP had a lower intended use of face-to-face OOH care contacts than persons with a standard plan (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.63–0.86). CONCLUSION Alternative HCPs on a voluntary basis seem to influence the use of OOH care. These results could be relevant for policy makers, especially from non-gatekeeping countries, to reduce irrelevant use and subsequent costs of emergency and OOH care services. https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/2533after-hours careemergency medicinehelp-seeking behaviourintegrated caremanaged care programsout-of-hours medical care |
| spellingShingle | Ellen Keizer Linda Huibers Morten Bondo Christensen Oliver Senn Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in Switzerland Swiss Medical Weekly after-hours care emergency medicine help-seeking behaviour integrated care managed care programs out-of-hours medical care |
| title | Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in Switzerland |
| title_full | Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in Switzerland |
| title_fullStr | Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in Switzerland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in Switzerland |
| title_short | Impact of alternative healthcare plans on out-of-hours help-seeking intentions in Switzerland |
| title_sort | impact of alternative healthcare plans on out of hours help seeking intentions in switzerland |
| topic | after-hours care emergency medicine help-seeking behaviour integrated care managed care programs out-of-hours medical care |
| url | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/2533 |
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