A Study on The Out-of-pocket Mental Health-related Medical Market

• Main Authors: Chi-Fen Huang, 黃琦棻
• Other Authors: Shun-Ching Horng
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/3f35nd

碩士 === 國立陽明大學 === 生技醫療經營管理碩士在職學位學程 === 107 === In Taiwan, the satisfaction rate of national health insurance has remained above 80% in recent years. Although people have complete freedom to choose the medical resources they want, professionalism and incomes of medical professionals are severely restricted due to the current health system. The mental health-related field is no exception as labor costs are high, but insurance payments to doctors are low. This study used the processes of consumer behavior as a framework to investigate the opinions of psychiatric outpatients to current medical system, the considerations have when deciding to have out-of-pocket treatment, and the role mental states might play in making medical decisions in order to get a more precise direction for developing out-of-pocket medical market and offering people diversified medical products in the future. One hundred forty outpatients were included in this study. 92.1% of the samples are satisfied with the psychiatric services which current health insurance offer. 93.6% of the samples have motivation to consider out-of-pocket treatment. Those who have a more proactive attitude towards dealing with their health problems, and people who feel comfortable disclosing their personal information or feelings to therapists appear to be more likely to use out-of-pocket medical treatment in the future.Among the factors which might interfere with motivation to consider out-of-pocket medical care, price is less of an important factor for those whom have higher motivation. Furthermore, the proportion of willingness to pay more is higher in people whom have had related experiences. Developing diverse ways to offer help and treatment outside of what health insurance offers can improve people’s motivation and increase the number of people who are willing to search for help, and reduce poor productivity caused by emotional instability or affected mental status.