BİREYLER SAĞLIK HİZMETLERİNİ RASYONEL KULLANIYORLAR MI? KÜRESEL COVİD-19 SALGININDAN KANITLAR

Year 2022, Volume: 36 Issue: 3, 1391 - 1407, 30.09.2022

Hatice Genç Kavas

https://doi.org/10.48070/erciyesakademi.1155805

Abstract

Çalışmanın yapıldığı tarih itibariyle dünya genelinde Covid-19 kaynaklı yaklaşık 6,4 milyon ölüm meydana gelmiştir. Hastalığın hızla yayılması, ölüm oranlarının yüksek olması, hastalık hakkında net bilgiye sahip olunamama gibi nedenler bireylerin günlük yaşam rutinlerini değiştirmelerine neden olmuştur. Kısıtlamaların ya da yasakların olmadığı dönemlerde bile bireyler normal şartlarda sergiledikleri davranışlarına devam etmemişlerdir. Bu değişikliklerden biri de bireylerin sağlık hizmeti taleplerinde ortaya çıkmıştır. Covid-19'un hayatımıza girmesiyle birlikte bireylerin hastaneye gitme oranları önemli ölçüde azaldı. Bu bağlamda bu çalışma, Covid-19 Pandemisi döneminde insanların sağlık hizmeti taleplerindeki değişimi ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Araştırma için 01.09.2019 - 11.03.2021 tarihleri arasında Sivas merkezinde bulunan ikinci ve üçüncü basamak sağlık kuruluşlarından alınan hasta kabul sayılarının arşiv verileri kullanılmış ve cinsiyet, yaş, sağlık sigortası, ve sağlık hizmeti alınan departmanlara göre aynı döneme tekabül eden sağlık talebindeki değişimler dönemsel olarak değerlendirilmiştir. 2020 Eylül- 2021 Mart döneminde toplam hastane başvuruları (Covid-19 şüphesi ve onkoloji poliklinikleri gibi zorunlu tedavi gerektiren bölümler hariç tutulmuştur) 2019 Eylül - 2020 Mart dönemindeki toplam hastaneye başvuru sayısından yaklaşık olarak %46 daha düşük gerçekleşmiştir. Yine aynı dönemler için “çocuk acil” başvuruları değerlendirildiğinde %66’lık bir düşüş görülebilmektedir. Böylesine önemli bir düşüşlerin, bireylerin normal şartlar altında sağlık hizmeti taleplerindeki rasyonel davranışlarını sorgulamamıza neden olmaktadır. Eğer rasyonal bir davranış olmadığı düşünülüyorsa bireylerin sağlık hizmetleri kullanımı konusunda önemli adımlar atılmalıdır. Bireylerin bu konuda eğitilmeleri kilit rol oynamaktadır.

Keywords

Covid-19, Sağlık sektörü, Hasta davranışı, Sağlık hizmetleri talebi, Sağlık hizmetleri kullanımı, Sağlık ekonomisi, Covid-19

DO INDIVIDUALS RATIONALLY UTILIZE HEALTHCARE SERVİCES? EVIDENCE FROM THE GLOBAL COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Up to the date of the study, approximately 6.4 million people worldwide died due to Covid-19. In this process, individuals changed their daily life routines due to reasons such as the high contagiousness of the disease, the high number of deaths and the increasing rate of the disease, and ignorance about the disease. Even in periods when there were no restrictions or prohibitions, individuals did not continue their behavior under normal conditions. One of these changes has emerged in the health service demands of individuals. After the onset of the disease, hospital admission rates decreased significantly. In this context, the study aims to analyze the change in people's health care demands during the Covid-19 Pandemic period. Archival data of the number of patient admissions from the secondary and tertiary health institutions in the center of Sivas between 01.09.2019 - 11.03.2021 was used and the changes in the health demand according to gender, age, health insurance/payment, and the departments were analyzed periodically. In the period September 2020 - March 2021, total hospital admissions (excluding suspected Covid-19 and departments requiring mandatory treatment such as oncology, etc…) were approximately 46% lower than the total number of hospital admissions between September 2019 - March 2020. When the "child emergency" applications are evaluated for the same periods, a decrease of 66% can be seen. Such a significant decrease causes us to question the rational behavior of individuals in health care demands under normal conditions. If it is thought that it is not rational behavior, important steps should be taken about the use of healthcare services by individuals. The education of individuals on this issue plays a key role.

Keywords

Healthcare sector, Patient behavior, Healthcare demand, Healthcare utilization, Health economics, Covid-19

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