Purpose: With the advent of an aging society, the demand for home medical care services in Taiwan has increased. However, the current participation rate of physicians in home medical care remains low. The study accordingly conducted a questionnaire survey to help understand the operational challenges and barriers facing physicians in Taipei regarding the promotion of home healthcare programs.
Methods: This study as an anonymous structured questionnaire survey was conducted between August 2022 and October 2022 to solicit the opinions of physicians registered for practice in Taipei City. The questionnaire covers basic information, participation in home medical care integration programs, the current status, and challenges and incentives of home care for disabled cases by family physicians. After expert validity review and revisions, the questionnaire was administered to physicians through in an electronic form. Univariate and linear regression analyses were performed on the results obtained from physicians participating in home healthcare programs (home medical care integration program, home care for disabled cases by family doctors).
Results: According to the 410 responses collected, physicians with less clinic sessions are more willing to participate in home medical care integration programs, and female physicians tend to be more willing to participate in home care for disabled cases by family physicians. Physicians equipped with a better understanding of the programs are also more willing to participate. The top three obstacles for physicians to promote home medical care integration programs were respectively difficulty in providing 24-hour telephone consultation services, time-consuming transportation, and insufficient reimbursement. For home care for disabled cases by family physicians, the top three challenges were time-consuming travel to patients at home, insufficient reimbursement, and difficulty in arranging case managers.
Conclusion: To promote the participation of Taipei physicians in home medical care integration program and home care for disabled cases by family physicians, the study recommends the following three measures: increasing the reimbursement considering transportation costs, providing 24-hour emergency telephone consultation services, and establishing a more efficient communication mechanism for case matching.