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The Impacts of COVID-19 on Healthcare Quality in Tertiary Medical Centers—A Retrospective Study on Data from Taiwan Clinical Performance Indicators System

Author

Listed:
  • Shih-An Liu

    (Center for Quality Management, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan
    Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung 40604, Taiwan
    Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan)

  • Chieh-Liang Wu

    (Department of Critical Care Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan)

  • I-Ju Chou

    (Center for Quality Management, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan)

  • Pa-Chun Wang

    (Joint Commission of Taiwan, New Taipei City 22069, Taiwan)

  • Chia-Ling Hsu

    (Joint Commission of Taiwan, New Taipei City 22069, Taiwan)

  • Chia-Pei Chen

    (Joint Commission of Taiwan, New Taipei City 22069, Taiwan)

Abstract

To date, COVID-19 is by far the most impactful contagious disease of the 21st century and it has had a devastating effect on public health in countries around the globe. Elective medical services have declined markedly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have compared changes in healthcare quality before and during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Eastern Asian countries. We aimed to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare quality among medical centers in Taiwan. This was a retrospective study that collected anonymized data from the Taiwan Clinical Performance Indicator system, which was founded by the Joint Commission of Taiwan, an organization to promote, execute, and certify the nation’s healthcare quality policies. We explored quality indicators reported by more than three-quarters of medical centers in Taiwan from January 2019 to December 2020. The year 2019 was defined as the baseline period and 2020 was defined as the period after the start of the outbreak of COVID-19. Quality indicators from different regions were analyzed. Unscheduled returns of emergency patients within 72 h of their discharge, unscheduled returns of hospitalized patients within 14 days of their discharge, and unscheduled returns of surgical patients to the operating room during hospitalization all declined during the COVID-19 outbreak. Interestingly, the proportion of acute ischemic stroke patients receiving intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) increased during outbreak of COVID-19. There were significant regional variations in healthcare quality indicators among medical centers in northern and middle/southern Taiwan. The outbreak of COVID-19 changed different patterns of healthcare systems. Although healthcare quality seemed to improve, further investigation is warranted to better understand whether those who were in need of returning to the emergency room or hospital were reluctant or were prevented from travel by the shelter-in-place policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Shih-An Liu & Chieh-Liang Wu & I-Ju Chou & Pa-Chun Wang & Chia-Ling Hsu & Chia-Pei Chen, 2022. "The Impacts of COVID-19 on Healthcare Quality in Tertiary Medical Centers—A Retrospective Study on Data from Taiwan Clinical Performance Indicators System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-10, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:2278-:d:751487
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