IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i14p2485-d247777.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Healthcare Seeking Behavior of Medical Aid Beneficiaries Who Overutilize Healthcare Services: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Author

Listed:
  • Jeonghyun Cho

    (Department of Nursing, Inje University, Busan 47392, Korea)

  • Kyungin Jeong

    (Department of Nursing, Daedong College, Busan 46270, Korea)

  • Samsook Kim

    (Department of Nursing, Daedong College, Busan 46270, Korea)

  • Hyejin Kim

    (Red Cross College of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Korea)

Abstract

We explored the healthcare seeking behavior of Medical Aid (MA) beneficiaries who over-utilize healthcare services in South Korea. We employed a qualitative descriptive study using semi-structured interviews with fifteen community-dwelling MA beneficiaries—who were categorized as over-utilizing healthcare services—and conventional content analysis. Four categories emerged: having unmet healthcare needs, wandering in search of effective healthcare services, routinizing their use of healthcare services, and being concerned about benefit restrictions due to their healthcare overutilization. Overall, these categories indicate participants’ behaviors used to fill the gap between their high healthcare needs and restricted MA benefits. The findings provide a foundation for healthcare providers, policymakers, researchers, and MA beneficiaries to discuss how to better address beneficiaries’ healthcare needs while preventing healthcare overutilization patterns. Effective and innovative interventions that target MA beneficiaries and their case managers are necessary to improve beneficiaries’ quality of life.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeonghyun Cho & Kyungin Jeong & Samsook Kim & Hyejin Kim, 2019. "Exploring the Healthcare Seeking Behavior of Medical Aid Beneficiaries Who Overutilize Healthcare Services: A Qualitative Descriptive Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-9, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:14:p:2485-:d:247777
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/14/2485/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/14/2485/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jungah Kim & Changwoo Shon, 2018. "The Effects of Health Coverage Schemes on Length of Stay and Preventable Hospitalization in Seoul," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Jae-Hyun Kim & Kwang-Soo Lee & Ki-Bong Yoo & Eun-Cheol Park, 2015. "The Differences in Health Care Utilization between Medical Aid and Health Insurance: A Longitudinal Study Using Propensity Score Matching," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Azzurra Massimi & Corrado De Vito & Ilaria Brufola & Alice Corsaro & Carolina Marzuillo & Giuseppe Migliara & Maria Luisa Rega & Walter Ricciardi & Paolo Villari & Gianfranco Damiani, 2017. "Are community-based nurse-led self-management support interventions effective in chronic patients? Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-22, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Myung Ja Kim & Eunhee Lee, 2020. "How to Reduce Excessive Use of the Health Care Service in Medical Aid Beneficiaries: Effectiveness of Community-Based Case Management," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-10, April.
    2. Hye Yin Park & Yun-Chul Hong & Ichiro Kawachi & Juhwan Oh, 2018. "Gaps in universal health coverage in South Korea: Association with depression onset in a community cohort," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(6), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Brigitte Woo & Karen Koh & Wentao Zhou & Toon Wei Lim & Violeta Lopez & Wilson Tam, 2020. "Understanding the role of an advanced practice nurse through the perspectives of patients with cardiovascular disease: A qualitative study," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(9-10), pages 1623-1634, May.
    4. Aistov, Andrey V. (Аистов, Андрей) & Aleksandrova, Ekaterina A. (Александрова, Екатерина), 2018. "Ex Post Moral Hazard in Private Health Insurance [Постконтрактный Оппортунизм На Рынке Добровольного Медицинского Страхования]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 3, pages 148-181, June.
    5. Hwa-Young Lee & Naoki Kondo & Juhwan Oh, 2018. "Medical expenditure and unmet need of the pre-elderly and the elderly according to job status in Korea: Are the elderly indeed most vulnerable?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-12, March.
    6. Chiara Pazzaglia & Claudia Camedda & Nikita Valentina Ugenti & Andrea Trentin & Sandra Scalorbi & Yari Longobucco, 2023. "Community Health Assessment Tools Adoptable in Nursing Practice: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-44, January.
    7. Jung Hoon Woo & Zachary Grinspan & Jason Shapiro & Sang Youl Rhee, 2016. "Frequent Users of Hospital Emergency Departments in Korea Characterized by Claims Data from the National Health Insurance: A Cross Sectional Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, January.
    8. Denise Nana Pleh & Elizabeth Rosted & Thora Grothe Thomsen, 2021. "Key competences of outpatient nurses, as perceived by patients attending nurse‐led clinics – An integrative review," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3-4), pages 311-322, February.
    9. Carles Vilaplana-Carnerero & Ignacio Aznar-Lou & María Teresa Peñarrubia-María & Antoni Serrano-Blanco & Rita Fernández-Vergel & Dolors Petitbò-Antúnez & Montserrat Gil-Girbau & Marian March-Pujol & J, 2020. "Initiation and Single Dispensing in Cardiovascular and Insulin Medications: Prevalence and Explanatory Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Vincenzo Gianturco & Luigi Gianturco & Rebecca Regnoli & Bruno Dino Bodini & Maurizio Turiel & Martino Trapani & Francesco Bini & Giuseppe De Angelis, 2020. "Healthy Promotion for Fighting Metabolic Syndrome: Insights from Multi-Center HeRO-FiT Cohort," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-10, July.
    11. Timmermans, Lotte & Golder, Elena & Decat, Peter & Foulon, Veerle & Van Hecke, Ann & Schoenmakers, Birgitte, 2023. "Characteristics of self-management support (SMS) interventions and their impact on Quality of Life (QoL) in adults with chronic diseases: An umbrella review of systematic reviews," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    12. So-Hyun Moon & Hyun-Ju Seo & Dong Young Lee & Seong Min Kim & Jeong Min Park, 2019. "Associations Among Health Insurance Type, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and the Risk of Dementia: A Prospective Cohort Study in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-9, July.
    13. Myeung Guen Oh & Mi Ah Han & Na-Ra Yun & Jong Park & So Yeon Ryu & Dong-Min Kim & Seong-Woo Choi, 2015. "A Population-Based, Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study on Influenza Vaccination Status among Cancer Survivors in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:14:p:2485-:d:247777. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.