臺灣「醫療利用歸人檔資料庫」之建置介紹

Purpose: Previous studies usually used the insured location to analyze health disparity by geographic location, but the insured location may not be the actual residence. By providing information on various personal locations, this Healthcare Utilization Database can help one to analyze health disparity by geographic location more accurately. Methods: We used multiple databases including Registry for beneficiaries database, Ambulatory care expenditures by visits database, Inpatient expenditures by admissions database, and the commuter time matrix to create different locations of access to healthcare at the district-township level. By comparing location proximity using the commuter time matrix, we proposed an estimated residence which applied to individuals who have seen a doctor within a year. In addition, we also provided annual outpatient and inpatient utilization records and mortality data to add value to this database. Results: This database (2001-2013) provides various personal locations, healthcare utilization information and mortality data. After a validation study using the self-reported current residence from National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) database, we found the equivalence between our estimated residence and the current residence is 81.2% at the district-township level. Conclusions: While past studies have used insured location as a proxy, this database provides more accurate data for studies on geographic location and health.