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Primary Care Comprehensiveness Can Reduce Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalization in People with Hypertension in South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Nak-Jin Sung

    (Department of Family Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang 10326, Korea)

  • Yong-Jun Choi

    (Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and Health Services Research Center, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon 24252, Korea)

  • Jae-Ho Lee

    (Department of Family Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul 06591, Korea)

Abstract

Hypertension has been the leading risk factor contributing to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, which needs comprehensive measures to manage and can be controlled effectively in primary care. In the health care context of South Korea, where specialists can see patients directly at their own community clinics and there has been no consensus on the definition of primary care, the authors used the nationally representative 2013 Korea Health Panel data, categorized adults (≥18 years) with hypertension by types of usual source of care (USC), and analyzed the association of having a comprehensive community clinic (i.e., primary care) physician as a USC with experience of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization within a year. After adjusting for cofounding variables including Charlson comorbidity index scores, those having a primary care physician as a USC remained associated with a decrease in an experience of ED visits (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.40–0.93) and hospitalization (OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49–0.96), compared to those not having a usual physician. Health policies that promote having a primary care physician as a USC could decrease unnecessary experience of ED visits and hospitalization by adults with hypertension. This can partly reduce ED overcrowding and avoidable hospitalization in Korea.

Suggested Citation

  • Nak-Jin Sung & Yong-Jun Choi & Jae-Ho Lee, 2018. "Primary Care Comprehensiveness Can Reduce Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalization in People with Hypertension in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-11, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:2:p:272-:d:130281
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jin Yong Lee & Sang Jun Eun & Hyun Joo Kim & Min-Woo Jo, 2016. "Finding the Primary Care Providers in the Specialist-Dominant Primary Care Setting of Korea: A Cluster Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-18, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ryuichi Ohta & Yoshinori Ryu & Chiaki Sano, 2021. "The Contribution of Citizens to Community-Based Medical Education in Japan: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-15, February.
    2. Siman Yang & Mengping Zhou & Jingyi Liao & Xinxin Ding & Nan Hu & Li Kuang, 2022. "Association between Primary Care Utilization and Emergency Room or Hospital Inpatient Services Utilization among the Middle-Aged and Elderly in a Self-Referral System: Evidence from the China Health a," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, October.
    3. Sungje Moon & Mankyu Choi, 2018. "The Effect of Usual Source of Care on the Association of Annual Healthcare Expenditure with Patients’ Age and Chronic Disease Duration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Jungah Kim & Changwoo Shon, 2018. "The Effects of Health Coverage Schemes on Length of Stay and Preventable Hospitalization in Seoul," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, April.
    5. Do Hwa Byun & Rho Soon Chang & Myung-Bae Park & Hyo-Rim Son & Chun-Bae Kim, 2021. "Prioritizing Community-Based Intervention Programs for Improving Treatment Compliance of Patients with Chronic Diseases: Applying an Analytic Hierarchy Process," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-20, January.
    6. Ryuichi Ohta & Yoshinori Ryu & Chiaki Sano, 2021. "Family Medicine Education at a Rural Hospital in Japan: Impact on Institution and Trainees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-14, June.

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