Exploring the Healthcare Seeking Behavior of Medical Aid Beneficiaries Who Overutilize Healthcare Services: A Qualitative Descriptive Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants and Setting
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Data Analysis
2.4. Rigor
3. Results
3.1. Participants’ Characteristics
3.2. MA Beneficiaries’ Healthcare Seeking Process
3.2.1. Having Unmet Healthcare Needs
“I heard that there’s a difference between the medication that you pay for and the medication that is covered by the MA benefits, even if it’s the same. I have heard that medications given to MA beneficiaries are the least potent. I think that’s why I don’t get any better after taking these medications. It is unfair! Higher potent medications are not given to us, MA beneficiaries, because they are expensive. I, as a beneficiary, think this is absolutely unfair!” (P1)
3.2.2. Wandering in Search of Effective Healthcare Services
“Initially, I was skeptical as to whether they would really give me medical benefits. Once I saw a huge reduction in my medication costs, I felt the advantage of having the MA benefits. I was thinking, ‘Is this true? Would it change in the future?” (P4)
“I experienced no improvement in symptoms regardless of which hospital I visited. Treatments were of no use, and that’s why I keep switching from one hospital to another. A doctor once told me my disease would not be cured. I feel frustrated, so I keep changing hospitals because of this frustration.” (P7)
3.2.3. Routinizing Their Use of Healthcare Services
“I wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, go to a hospital around 11 am or noon, receive physiotherapy, and then go to an otolaryngology clinic because my throat hurts. Sometimes, the sun is already setting after I’ve visited hospitals.” (P10)
“I go to the hospital every day, so it feels like going home now. I go there without much thought, and then I return home. I can’t go when the hospital is closed, but when it is open, I go there to receive physiotherapy, get shots, and so forth. There’s a clinic 200 m away. I walk up to the hospital and consider it exercise.” (P5)
3.2.4. Being Concerned about Restrictions on MA Benefits Due to Healthcare Overutilization
“I just have to bear the pain. I feel embarrassed and sorry every time I receive a letter from the hospital. But I am trying as much as possible not to go to hospitals. I don’t want to add more burdens to my country. I keep having this thought.” (P2)
“I am super worried about hospital designation. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it if I get a designated hospital. That’s why every time I come back from a hospital, I record the date of the visit, prescriptions, and everything.” (P2)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Cho, J.; Jeong, K.; Kim, S.; Kim, H. Exploring the Healthcare Seeking Behavior of Medical Aid Beneficiaries Who Overutilize Healthcare Services: A Qualitative Descriptive Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 2485. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142485
Cho J, Jeong K, Kim S, Kim H. Exploring the Healthcare Seeking Behavior of Medical Aid Beneficiaries Who Overutilize Healthcare Services: A Qualitative Descriptive Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(14):2485. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142485
Chicago/Turabian StyleCho, Jeonghyun, Kyungin Jeong, Samsook Kim, and Hyejin Kim. 2019. "Exploring the Healthcare Seeking Behavior of Medical Aid Beneficiaries Who Overutilize Healthcare Services: A Qualitative Descriptive Study" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 14: 2485. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142485