IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i6p3082-d518769.html

Overuse of Health Care in the Emergency Services in Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Ximena Alvial

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 9170124, Chile)

  • Alejandra Rojas

    (Escuela de Obstetricia y Puericultura, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 9170022, Chile)

  • Raúl Carrasco

    (Facultad de Ingeniería, Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins, Santiago 8370993, Chile
    Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago 7500971, Chile)

  • Claudia Durán

    (Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad Tecnologica Metropolitana, Santiago 7800002, Chile)

  • Christian Fernández-Campusano

    (Departamento de Ingenierías Multidisciplinares, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 9170022, Chile)

Abstract

The Public Health Service in Chile consists of different levels of complexity and coverage depending on the severity and degree of specialization of the pathology to be treated. From primary to tertiary care, tertiary care is highly complex and has low coverage. This work focuses on an analysis of the public health system with emphasis on the healthcare network and tertiary care, whose objectives are designed to respond to the needs of each patient. A review of the literature and a field study of the problem of studying the perception of internal and external users is presented. This study intends to be a contribution in the detection of opportunities for the relevant actors and the processes involved through the performance of Triage. The main causes and limitations of the excessive use of emergency services in Chile are analyzed and concrete proposals are generated aiming to benefit clinical care in emergency services. Finally, improvements related to management are proposed and the main aspects are determined to improve decision-making in hospitals, which could be a contribution to public health policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ximena Alvial & Alejandra Rojas & Raúl Carrasco & Claudia Durán & Christian Fernández-Campusano, 2021. "Overuse of Health Care in the Emergency Services in Chile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:3082-:d:518769
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3082/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3082/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guadalupe Echeverría & Ornella Tiboni & Loni Berkowitz & Victoria Pinto & Bárbara Samith & Andrea von Schultzendorff & Nuria Pedrals & Marcela Bitran & Chiara Ruini & Carol D. Ryff & Daniele Del Rio &, 2020. "Mediterranean Lifestyle to Promote Physical, Mental, and Environmental Health: The Case of Chile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-17, November.
    2. Shujing Sun & Susan F. Lu & Huaxia Rui, 2020. "Does Telemedicine Reduce Emergency Room Congestion? Evidence from New York State," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(3), pages 972-986, September.
    3. Gema Ibanez-Sanchez & Carlos Fernandez-Llatas & Antonio Martinez-Millana & Angeles Celda & Jesus Mandingorra & Lucia Aparici-Tortajada & Zoe Valero-Ramon & Jorge Munoz-Gama & Marcos Sepúlveda & Eric R, 2019. "Toward Value-Based Healthcare through Interactive Process Mining in Emergency Rooms: The Stroke Case," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-22, May.
    4. Jolanta Klukowska-Röetzler & Maria Eracleous & Martin Müller & David S. Srivastava & Gert Krummrey & Osnat Keidar & Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos, 2018. "Increased Urgent Care Center Visits by Southeast European Migrants: A Retrospective, Controlled Trial from Switzerland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-13, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Juan Coss-Mandiola & Jairo Vanegas-López & Alejandra Rojas & Pablo Dubó & Maggie Campillay-Campillay & Raúl Carrasco, 2023. "Accreditation of Quality in Primary Health Care in Chile: Perception of the Teams from Accredited Family Healthcare Centers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Hugo O. Garcés & Claudia Durán & Eduardo Espinosa & Alejandro Jerez & Fredi Palominos & Marcela Hinojosa & Raúl Carrasco, 2022. "Monitoring of Thermal Comfort and Air Quality for Sustainable Energy Management inside Hospitals Based on Online Analytical Processing and the Internet of Things," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-23, September.
    3. Maggie Campillay-Campillay & Ana Calle-Carrasco & Pablo Dubo & Jorge Moraga-Rodríguez & Juan Coss-Mandiola & Jairo Vanegas-López & Alejandra Rojas & Raúl Carrasco, 2022. "Accessibility in People with Disabilities in Primary Healthcare Centers: A Dimension of the Quality of Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, September.
    4. Juan Coss-Mandiola & Jairo Vanegas-López & Alejandra Rojas & Raúl Carrasco & Pablo Dubo & Maggie Campillay-Campillay, 2022. "Characterization of Communes with Quality Accredited Primary Healthcare Centers in Chile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-13, July.

    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. Ji Wu & Yulin Fang & J. Leon Zhao & Xinyu Zhu, 2026. "Healthcare at the Crossroads: Impacts of Online Health Community on Off-line Healthcare Quality and Equity," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 37(2), pages 1042-1067, June.
    2. Kraig Delana & Sarang Deo & Kamalini Ramdas & Ganesh-Babu B. Subburaman & Thulasiraj Ravilla, 2023. "Multichannel Delivery in Healthcare: The Impact of Telemedicine Centers in Southern India," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(5), pages 2568-2586, May.
    3. Shuai Hao & Zhankun Sun & Yuqian Xu, 2025. "Emergency Care Efficiency vs. Quality: Uncovering Hidden Consequences of Fast-Track Routing Decisions," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 75-93, January.
    4. Triantafillos Loutroukis & Ekaterini Loutrouki & Jolanta Klukowska-Rötzler & Sabine Koba & Fabian Schlittler & Benoit Schaller & Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos & Michael Doulberis & David S. Srivastava & , 2020. "Violence as the Most Frequent Cause of Oral and Maxillofacial Injuries among the Patients from Low- and Middle-Income Countries—A Retrospective Study at a Level I Trauma University Emergency Department in Switzerland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Elina H. Hwang & Xitong Guo & Yong Tan & Yuanyuan Dang, 2022. "Delivering Healthcare Through Teleconsultations: Implications for Offline Healthcare Disparity," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 515-539, June.
    6. Guihua Wang & Ronghuo Zheng & Tinglong Dai, 2022. "Does Transportation Mean Transplantation? Impact of New Airline Routes on Sharing of Cadaveric Kidneys," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3660-3679, May.
    7. Zhiyu Zeng & Nicholas Clyde & Hengchen Dai & Dennis J. Zhang & Zhiwei Xu & Zuo-Jun Max Shen, 2026. "The Impact of Customer Information on Service Supply and Demand: Evidence from a Large Live-Streaming Experiment," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 212-230, January.
    8. Karsten Klingberg & Adrian Stoller & Martin Müller & Sabrina Jegerlehner & Adam D. Brown & Aristomenis Exadaktylos & Anne Jachmann & David Srivastava, 2020. "Asylum Seekers and Swiss Nationals with Low-Acuity Complaints: Disparities in the Perceived level of Urgency, Health Literacy and Ability to Communicate—A Cross-Sectional Survey at a Tertiary Emergency Department," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-11, April.
    9. Ying-Chih Sun & Ozlem Cosgun & Raj Sharman, 2025. "Optimizing telehealth utilization during COVID-19: enhancing efficiency and equity through data envelopment analysis and machine learning," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 1-29, December.
    10. Carla Semir-González & Rodrigo Ferrer-Urbina & Carolina Suazo-Navarro & Catalina Flores-Denegri & Darinka Bolados & Joaquín Rosales & Geraldy Sepúlveda-Páez, 2023. "Development of a Scale to Measure Healthy Behaviors in Spanish-Speaking University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-8, February.
    11. Osnat Keidar & David S. Srivastava & Emmanouil Pikoulis & Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos, 2019. "Health of Refugees and Migrants—Where Do We Stand and What Directions Should We Take?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-8, April.
    12. Meizi Zhou & Xuelin Li & Gordon Burtch, 2024. "Healthcare Across Boundaries: Urban-Rural Differences in the Consequences of Telehealth Adoption," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 1092-1113, September.
    13. Li, Zhong-Ping & Perera, Sandun C. & Wang, Jian-Jun & Cheng, T.C.E., 2025. "Impacts of competitive and collaborative online channels on dual-channel healthcare supply chain operations: A patient loss aversion perspective," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    14. Jimmy Qin & Carri W. Chan & Jing Dong & Shunichi Homma & Siqin Ye, 2025. "Waiting Online vs. In Person: An Empirical Study on Outpatient Clinic Visit Incompletion," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 1377-1395, September.
    15. Liangfei Qiu & Subodha Kumar & Arun Sen & Atish P. Sinha, 2022. "Impact of the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program on hospital readmission and mortality: An economic analysis," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(5), pages 2341-2360, May.
    16. Sezgin Ayabakan & Indranil R. Bardhan & Zhiqiang (Eric) Zheng, 2024. "Impact of Telehealth and Process Virtualization on Healthcare Utilization," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 45-65, March.
    17. Guihua Wang, 2022. "The Effect of Medicaid Expansion on Wait Time in the Emergency Department," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6648-6665, September.
    18. Yixuan Liu & Ashish Agarwal & Guoming Lai & Weihua Zhou, 2026. "On-Demand Healthcare Platforms: Impact of Question and Answer Service on Online Consultations and Offline Appointments," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 37(1), pages 454-478, March.
    19. Michael Doulberis & Apostolis Papaefthymiou & Jannis Kountouras & Stergios A. Polyzos & Simone Srivastava & Jolanta Klukowska-Rötzler & Martin Perrig & Sylvana Papoutsi & Aristomenis K. Exadaktylos & , 2019. "Vitamin D Deficiency and Unclear Abdominal Pain in Patients from Low- and Middle-Income Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-13, November.
    20. Lynn Wu & Bowen Lou & Lorin M. Hitt, 2025. "Innovation Strategy After IPO: How AI Analytics Spurs Innovation After IPO," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(3), pages 2360-2389, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:18:y:2021:i:6:p:3082-:d:518769. 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 The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (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.