How to choose the medical facility when you're sick? In Taiwan, medical facilities are divided into clinics, district hospitals, regional hospitals, and medical centers; each category is given a different task and role in medical care. When we're feeling ill and wish to go to a doctor, we should first go to a local clinic or a nearby district hospital. If further examinations are needed, the doctor will refer you to an adequate facility; once the particular examination and treatment have been completed, we shall follow the doctor's advice to either be referred back to the original clinic/district hospital or to another adequate facilities to receive follow-up treatments.
The hierarchy of medical care policy is targeted to improve the quality of medical care and ensure that people can go to the right doctor in the right department. Through collaborations between medical facilities of different categories, the two-way referral system provides continuous and integrated medical care for the patients. Moreover, medical facilities of different categories may better exert their functions and promote a balanced development between hospitals and clinics through collaborations.
To cherish medical resources and implement the hierarchy of medical care policy, new NHI co-payment system shall be fully implemented on July 1; the co-payment for outpatient prescription drugs and emergency care in regional hospitals and medical centers will increase (please refer to https://eng.nhi.gov.tw/en/cp-1254-2dd20-8-2.html for the details). The new system continues to protect the right to medical treatments for the underprivileged groups, those who are exempted from NHI co-payments under the current system shall remain. Patients with mild symptoms and patients with stable chronic illnesses are encouraged to go to doctors in their local clinics and only visit a hospital when referrals are made by the doctor; in this way, medical centers and regional hospitals can resume their focus on providing medical care for patients with urgent and severe conditions.