Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
2024 European Forum m on Prevention and Primary Care, Edirne, Türkiye, 25 - 26 Nisan 2024, ss.26
Keywords: Primary healthcare, health system, referral system
Aim:
The annual number of physician-contact/persons in Turkey-2019 was 9.8. Only 42.2% of applications were
made to primary healthcare institutions, and 57.8% to secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions. The
probability of an individual utilizing services depends on their perceptions of their needs, social and cultural
norms and expectations, and previous experiences of utilizing care.
In this study, the healthcare institutions preferred by adults to receive healthcare services and the factors
affecting their preferences were investigated.
Method:
Ethical approval was obtained (23.03.2022-09.2021.1374, Marmara University), and informed consent was
obtained from the participants.
Patients, coming to the hospital for any reason between April and May 2022, agreed to participate in in-depth
interviews that were taken until saturation was 28. Content analysis was applied to identify the themes for
qualitative data.
Results:
Interviews were conducted with 15 male and 13 female volunteers (median age: 43.9, range:19-75). Most of
they stated that they could reach any healthcare institution when they needed it although there were
difficulties with appointments. They mostly preferred secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions. They said
the reason for the density of hospitals and appointments was the insufficient number of physicians, huge
number of patients, and unnecessary applications to the healthcare institution.
The reasons why preferred primary healthcare institutions were explained as satisfactory, were easy
accessibility to appointments, being less crowded, closer distance, and familiarity of the family physician with
the patients. The reason why secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions are preferred is having chronic
diseases and thinking of the need for comprehensive hospital care, but feeling satisfaction and trust were
rarely referred.
Conclusions:
Gaps in the information about patients’ circumstances, values, and needs are often unnoticed. We believe
that this study will highlight and thus have a profound impact on the solution to the overuse of healthcare
services through patient-reported experiences.
Presentation on 25/04/2024 at 12:00 in "Poster Walk" by Şükran Peker.