Current Status of the Continuity of Ambulatory Diabetes Care and its Impact on Health Outcomes and Medical Cost in Korea Using National Health Insurance Database

Abstract

The continuity of care in chronic diseases, especially in diabetes, was emphasized from many studies. But large scale studies with long-term observation which confirm the impact of continuity of care on health outcomes are rare. This study tried national level 3 year observation to find differences in hospitalization, mortality and medical costs among patient groups with different utilization pattern. Methods: The 1,088,564 patients with diabetes diagnosis and diabetes drug prescription in 2002, from 20 to 79 years old, and survived until the end of 2004 were included. Annual drug prescription days, number of visited clinics and quarterly continuity of care were measured. Gender, age group, living area, health insurance premium level (as a proxy of the income level), years of first DM diagnosis, five co-morbidities (hypertension, heart disease, stroke, renal disease, admission with DM), hospitalization experience and the type : 2006 8 5, : 2006 9 28, : ,