Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the continuity of care (COC) for patients with hypertension. Additionally, the factor of whether participants were treated via telemedicine was also considered. This study used the National Health Insurance and Medical Aid claims data of the Republic of Korea between 2019 and 2020. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to identify the differences in the number of visits and the most frequent provider continuity (MFPC) of hypertensive patients before and after the appearance of COVID-19 in Korea. Additional analysis was performed with data that excluded cases of patients who received telemedicine services. A total of 5,791,812 hypertensive patients were included in this study. The MFPC decreased by 0.0031 points after the appearance of COVID-19, and it showed the same decrease even when telemedicine cases were excluded. The number of outpatient clinic visit days decreased by 0.2930 days after the appearance of COVID-19. Without the telemedicine cases, the number of outpatient clinic visit days decreased by 0.3330 days after the appearance of COVID-19. Accordingly, the COVID-19 protocols did not affect hypertension patients’ COC but impacted the frequency of their outpatient visits. In other words, with or without telemedicine, the utilization of healthcare was not disrupted, but there was a significant difference in the volume of healthcare use depending on the inclusion of telemedicine cases.
Highlights
Hypertension is a chronic disease that requires routine management by healthcare providers
This study analyzed the use of healthcare by patients with hypertension, using the outpatient claims data of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and Medical Aid beneficiaries reviewed by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) in Korea
In this study, when telemedicine cases were taken into consideration, the pattern of healthcare use was shown not to change due to the COVID-19 protocols, and the use of telemedicine prevented the level of healthcare utilization from decreasing significantly
Summary
Hypertension is a chronic disease that requires routine management by healthcare providers. The prevalence of hypertension in Korea has increased due to the aging population, Westernized eating habits, and high sodium consumption. Among the population aged over 20 years, the estimated prevalence of hypertension is 29%, and among the patients diagnosed with hypertension, the control rate is only 47% [1]. Insurance Service (NHIS) in Korea, the estimated medical cost of treating hypertension was KRW 3.83 trillion (i.e., USD 3.4 billion) in 2019. This amount is equivalent to 4% of all medical expenses and 16% of medical expenses for chronic diseases during the same period [1,3]. Controlling the prevalence of hypertension through continuous monitoring and management would reduce the tremendous financial burden caused by the disease and eventually improve patients’ quality of life
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
