Factors affecting the number of emergency room visits in a public hospital in Korea

일개 공공병원 응급실 방문건수 관련 요인

  • Byung-Keun Yang (Department of Emergency, Wonju Medical Center) ;
  • Jae-Hwan Oh (Department of Health Administration, Yonsei University Graduate School) ;
  • Kwang-Soo Lee (Division of Health Administration, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University)
  • 양병근 (강원도원주의료원 응급의학과) ;
  • 오재환 (연세대학교 일반대학원 보건행정학과) ;
  • 이광수 (연세대학교 소프트웨어디지털헬스케어융합대학 보건행정학부)
  • Received : 2023.09.08
  • Accepted : 2023.09.22
  • Published : 2023.09.30

Abstract

Purpose: Korean medical services are not balanced across regions and social classes. To prevent mortality gaps, Korea must distribute its medical resources more efficiently. Patient factors affecting emergency room visits serve as basic data for determining best practices for public healthcare distribution. Methods: The data included 18 473 visits by 14 949 de-identified patients who visited a public emergency room over one year. The dependent variable was the number of emergency room visits. A Poisson regression was conducted with the independent variables, comprising sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and spatial accessibility factors and patient characteristics. Results: Older men with higher Korean Triage and Acuity Scale scores visited more frequently. Greater patient-hospital distance decreased visits; however, the presence of a hospital within 1 km of a patient's residence did not affect the number of visits. The use of 119 services was negatively correlated with the number of visits. Visits increased with more medical benefits. Conclusions: Patient age, distance to hospital, use of 119 services, and medical benefits should be considered when planning or managing public hospitals in Korea.

Keywords

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