The Impacts of COVID-19 on Healthcare Quality in Tertiary Medical Centers—A Retrospective Study on Data from Taiwan Clinical Performance Indicators System

Abstract

To date, COVID-19 is by far the most impactful contagious disease of the 21st century and it has had a devastating effect on public health in countries around the globe. Elective medical services have declined markedly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have compared changes in healthcare quality before and during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Eastern Asian countries. We aimed to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare quality among medical centers in Taiwan. This was a retrospective study that collected anonymized data from the Taiwan Clinical Performance Indicator system, which was founded by the Joint Commission of Taiwan, an organization to promote, execute, and certify the nation’s healthcare quality policies. We explored quality indicators reported by more than three-quarters of medical centers in Taiwan from January 2019 to December 2020. The year 2019 was defined as the baseline period and 2020 was defined as the period after the start of the outbreak of COVID-19. Quality indicators from different regions were analyzed. Unscheduled returns of emergency patients within 72 h of their discharge, unscheduled returns of hospitalized patients within 14 days of their discharge, and unscheduled returns of surgical patients to the operating room during hospitalization all declined during the COVID-19 outbreak. Interestingly, the proportion of acute ischemic stroke patients receiving intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) increased during outbreak of COVID-19. There were significant regional variations in healthcare quality indicators among medical centers in northern and middle/southern Taiwan. The outbreak of COVID-19 changed different patterns of healthcare systems. Although healthcare quality seemed to improve, further investigation is warranted to better understand whether those who were in need of returning to the emergency room or hospital were reluctant or were prevented from travel by the shelter-in-place policy.

Acute care pathway assessed through performance indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic in OECD countries (2020-2021): a scoping review

“…Previous studies have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the acute care setting on speci c countries (23,203,199,201), phases of the pathway (136, 201), or diseases (197,202,204). This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of the changes reported on the quality of acute care during the rst year and a half of the COVID-19 pandemic, covering OECD countries, multiple diseases, and following a care pathway approach.…”

Use of YouTube by academic medical centres during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study in Taiwan

“…Medical centres in Taiwan also provide the highest level of medical care as accredited by the Joint Commission of Taiwan (JCT), under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan (MOHW). 27 However, along with clinical services, research and education, medical centres are also responsible for conveying the proper health information to the public, including what they post on platforms such as Facebook or YouTube.…”

“…Academic medical centres in Taiwan serve as healthcare institutions having multiple functions, including diagnosis and treatments of disease, advanced research regarding pathogens and underlying mechanisms, and medical education for the younger generation of healthcare professionals. Medical centres in Taiwan also provide the highest level of medical care as accredited by the Joint Commission of Taiwan (JCT), under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Taiwan (MOHW) 27. However, along with clinical services, research and education, medical centres are also responsible for conveying the proper health information to the public, including what they post on platforms such as Facebook or YouTube.…”

Reducción de tiempos de espera y calidad de atención en pacientes de un hospital público

“…En esa línea, cabe resaltar que los proveedores de servicio o prestación de atención, en este caso, los establecimientos sanitarios, permiten identificar que los usuarios tienen una percepción acerca de la gestión realizada en los mencionados, teniendo como base ISN 2707-2207/ISSN 2707-2215 (en línea),septiembre-octubre,2022,Volumen 6,Número 5 p 3221 los aspectos tangibles, que en su mayoría se trata de la infraestructura, evidenciando elementos seguros para la intervención de los pacientes, incidiendo en la seguridad y fiabilidad en la que se encuentran los usuarios (Mrabet et al, 2022). En ese orden de ideas, Liu et al (2022) quienes refirieron que los servicios médicos fueron calificados como buenos, a pesar las circunstancias obtenidas por la pandemia por las que se atraviesa, se ha visto que constantemente se dio la mejora de herramientas tecnológicas y en la gestión favorable de los establecimientos de salud.…”