The study of resource allocation and dentist practice pattern under dental global budget

• Main Authors: Chang , Yen-Hsiang, 張晏祥
• Other Authors: 許光宏
• Format: Others
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/16249473647880454846

碩士 === 長庚大學 === 醫務管理學研究所 === 92 === The dental global budget in Taiwan has been implementing for six years since its inception in July, 1998. To make the system enhanced and offer better oral care to the general public, it is obligatory for us to take advices and appraisals from various parties allied. As around eighty percent of the dentists are practiced in the clinics, most of the researches on the effectiveness of the national health insurance focused on the difference among healthcare regions and compared between urban and rural areas. Based on the claims data one year before and after the implementation of dental global budget, that is 1997 and 1999; this study classifies healthcare organizations into medical centers, regional hospitals, district hospitals, and primary clinics. The thesis analyzed changes in resource allocation and practice pattern of dentists among different levels of clinical sectors. It was found that there was no significant change in resource allocation among different levels of healthcare organizations. For the practice items investigated by this thesis, there were increasing uses of composite restorations and decreasing uses in the amalgam restorations in levels of district hospitals and primary clinics. While in the medical centers and regional hospitals, there was increasing trend of oral surgery cases. The hospitals got less than 8% of the total dental global budget while 14% to 15% of the total dentists serve. The data demonstrated that there might be inadequate amount of resources in consideration of the efforts input by the dentists. The results have demonstrated that inappropriate allocation of resources was observed and resulted in practice pattern changed due to economic incentives after implementation of global budget. As the role of different levels of hospitals should not be the same since patients’ disease severity and job demanding are different. The attention on such difference among levels of healthcare sectors should be paid by policy makers for future resource allocation which must be proportionate to the roles played by the dentists.