The Utilization rate of hospice care in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Jing-Ru Yuan, 袁鏡如
• Other Authors: Tzuo-Yun Lan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/cm29gz

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 醫務管理研究所 === 106 === The purpose of this study was to examine the current state of hospice care for patients in Taiwan. The purpose of Taiwan's hospice care is for help, respect the case, alleviate the pain, let the case have the dignity of life and fulfill the wish, and the family will be brave enough to pass the grief. With the extension of the average life and the advancement of medical technology, more and more people understand the hospice care. Research method: the patients with 10 major terminal illnesses who can be listed in the hospice care by the Health Insurance Bureau in the millions of sampled registry of beneficiaries of National Health Insurance in Taiwan from 2005 to 2012 were taken as the research objects. Results: from 2005 to 2009, the hospice utilization rate by cancer patients increased from 18.6% to 21.2 %, and it reached 28.8% in 2011 after the palliative care consultation service , and it sharply increased to 37.2% in 2012. In 2009, the government introduced the hospice care for non-cancer patients. The number of people using hospice care increased from 1,545 in 2009 to 2,639 in 2012 in four years. The utilization rate of hospice among non-cancer patients was only 2.1% in 2012, a far cry from the 36 people who actually used it in 2012. Conclusions: the use of hospice by cancer patients in Taiwan has an increasing trend year by year, especially after the palliative care consultation service policy in 2011, one third of cancer patients have used hospice care. However, the utilization rate of hospice care by non-cancer patients is still low. It is suggested that the future policies should focus on its promotion among non-cancer patients.