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Study on doctor shopping behavior: Insight from patients with upper respiratory tract infection in Taiwan

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  • Wang, Ming-Jye
  • Lin, Shu-Ping

Abstract

Objectives Based on the actual medical records of ambulatory care visits, this study analyzed patients' healthcare seeking behavior and doctor shopping behavior (DSB), and investigated the underlying factors and the impact on the depletion of the healthcare resources for health policy makers to build a better health delivery system.Methods Among a cohort comprised of 200,000 patients randomly chosen from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan in 2004, only the patients seeking ambulatory care visits for upper respiratory tract infection (URI) were analyzed.Results Among the 45,951 URI patients, 2875 of them exhibited DSB (prevalence 6.3%). The DSB showed a reverse U-shaped relationship with the patient age (the highest DSB in age 18-34 years). The episodes of the URI had a negative impact on the DSB. The odds ratios of gender and the frequency of consultation versus DSB were 1.10 and 4.72, respectively, and the depletion of days of medication and repeat prescription increased with doctor shopping.Conclusions Health education to raise DSB awareness is necessary, especially for female's age 18-34 years. Implementing a proper referral system with efficient data exchange, setting up control parameters in the IC cards, and strengthening the integrated care plan could reduce the unnecessary waste of the healthcare resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Ming-Jye & Lin, Shu-Ping, 2010. "Study on doctor shopping behavior: Insight from patients with upper respiratory tract infection in Taiwan," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 61-67, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:94:y:2010:i:1:p:61-67
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Raymond Y.T. Yeung & Gabriel M. Leung & Sarah M. McGhee & Janice M. Johnston, 2004. "Waiting time and doctor shopping in a mixed medical economy," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(11), pages 1137-1144, November.
    2. Katz, S.J. & Hofer, T.P. & Manning, W.G., 1996. "Physician use in Ontario and the United States: The impact of socioeconomic status and health status," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 86(4), pages 520-524.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ming-Hwai Lin & Hsiao-Ting Chang & Chun-Yi Tu & Tzeng-Ji Chen & Shinn-Jang Hwang, 2015. "Doctor-Shopping Behaviors among Traditional Chinese Medicine Users in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-11, August.
    2. Jae-Hyun Kim & Eun-Cheol Park, 2019. "Can diabetes patients seeking a second hospital get better care? Results from nested case–control study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, January.
    3. Zykova, Yana V. & Mannberg, Andrea & Myrland, Øystein, 2022. "Effects of ‘doctor shopping’ behaviour on prescription of addictive drugs in Sweden," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    4. Gow-Lieng Tseng & Cheng-Yu Chen, 2015. "Doctor-Shopping Behavior among Patients with Eye Floaters," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-10, July.
    5. Yu-Ting Yeh & Min-Hui Hsu & Chien-Yuan Chen & Yu-Sheng Lo & Chien-Tsai Liu, 2014. "Detection of Potential Drug-Drug Interactions for Outpatients across Hospitals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Yu-Hua Yan & Chih-Ming Kung & Horng-Ming Yeh, 2019. "The Impacts of the Hierarchical Medical System on National Health Insurance on the Resident’s Health Seeking Behavior in Taiwan: A Case Study on the Policy to Reduce Hospital Visits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-10, August.

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