文章基本信息

标题：Outpatient Waiting Time at Vietnam Health Facilities: Policy Implications for Medical Examination Procedure
本地全文：下载
作者：Dinh-Hoa Nguyen ; Dinh-Van Tran ; Hoang-Long Vo 等
期刊名称：Healthcare
电子版ISSN：2227-9032
出版年度：2020
卷号：8
期号：1
页码：63-75
DOI：10.3390/healthcare8010063
出版社：MDPI Publishing
摘要：Our study aims to measure outpatient waiting times at Vietnam health facilities according to the socioeconomic characteristics. We employed the 2015 Vietnam District and Commune Health Facility Survey which was a cross-sectional study designed by the World Bank in collaboration with the Vietnam Health Strategy and Policy Institute. This survey was designed to be representative of six provinces (Dien Bien, Hanoi, Binh Dinh, Dak Lak, Dong Nai, and Dong Thap) drawn from six distinct geographical regions of Vietnam. Data from 4949 outpatients at district hospitals (DHs) and 1724 outpatients at commune health centers (CHCs) were extracted for final analysis. We recorded average outpatient waiting times of 32.58 min at DHs and of 11.58 min at CHCs. Four hundred and forty-five outpatients at DHs (9.0%) and 720 those at CHCs (42.8%) were examined immediately (waiting time = 0 min). Outpatient waiting times were various in six distinct geographical regions. With an investigation according to several socioeconomic characteristics, significant differences in outpatient waiting times were observed at both two levels of health facilities as measured by province, age, self-reported health status, patient’s wealth, ethnicity, and health insurance. Conclusions. Outpatient waiting times from arrival at health facility until receiving care were significantly distinct amongst two health facility levels, revealing longer at DHs compared to at CHCs. There was significantly higher proportion of outpatients examined immediately at CHCs compared to at DHs. Our study suggests that, vulnerable populations, with longer outpatient waiting time, should be dealt with in appropriate models towards each medical facility according to key socioeconomic factors to contribute to simplify the process of medical examination and treatment for outpatients.
关键词：outpatient waiting time; health facility; Vietnam; examination procedure outpatient waiting time ; health facility ; Vietnam ; examination procedure