Strategies for Transformational Change in the Health Care System: Challenges Facing an Aging Population

摘要

Reforming the health care system is a challenge for every country in the world in the 21st century. What is beneficial for an individual condition may not be good for patients with multiple conditions. Based on the actual medical records of a population age 55 and older as outpatients and inpatients, this study used a person-based longitudinal analysis to investigate the trends in healthcare seeking and the consumption of medical care resources. Amonga cohort comprised of 300,000 patients randomly chosen from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, 48,836 persons aged 55 and older were then followed longitudinally 10 years. The results clearly demonstrated that there were gender and age differences, as men had a lower frequency of consultation but a greater frequency of admissions and consumption of medical care resources than women. Age 75 was a key point in healthcare utilization. Since population aging is inevitable and continues to increase rapidly, it is important to establish a new health care system, raise awareness of health risks, strengthen preventive health services, especially for men, and plan health manpower resources to train enough professionals in the care of the elderly.