To alleviate the caregiving burden and financial strain on the families of hospitalized patients, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, through its Department of Nursing and Health Care and the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) has jointly promoted the NHI Inpatient Integrated Care Trial Program. This year, the program is estimated to receive a total of NT$560 million of funds with 109 hospitals approved to participate in the program offering 5,287 beds. Comparing to 2023, the number of participating hospitals increased by 25 with 873 more beds available. New participating hospitals will begin admitting patients on August 1, 2024 and offer the services of nursing assistants for inpatients as a third option, in addition to patients hiring their own caregiver or having a family member taking care of the patient, to ease the burden on the patient and their families.
In response to the social phenomenon of an aging society, a sub-replacement fertility, the majority of the population being salaried workers, and having older adults taking care of other older adults, Taiwan continues to implement the Inpatient Integrated Care Trial Program in 2024, marking its third year. For patients admitted in acute beds, the hospital shall arrange for suitable nursing assistants to provide care according to the nature of the ward and the severity of the illness. With the inpatient care made possible by proper delegation among ward team members, patients can receive continuous and holistic care without requiring family members to stay (or hire a caregiver) in the hospital the whole day. For said service, the NHI coverage will pay the hospital 750 points per day per nursing assistant and the patient shall pay the inpatient integrated care nursing assistant service fee, which may fall between NT$0 and NT$1,050, on their own.
Due to limited budget funding for the implementation of the Inpatient Integrated Care Trial Program, hospitals that are interested in participating in the program must submit an application for review and selection. In October 2022, 40 hospitals began to implement the program; the number grew to 84 the next year with approximately NT$560 million invested. This year, a total of 118 hospitals submitted the application, pushing the program capacity to 7,466 beds. After the review process concludes, the NHIA shall announce the approved hospitals on August 1, 2024.
Director General Chung-Liang Shih of the NHIA stated that all six NHIA division offices (Taipei, Northern, Central, Southern, Kaoping, and Eastern) have approved pilot hospitals to ensure proper allocation of resources. The number of approved hospitals increased from 84 to 109, making the number of available beds increased from 4,414 to 5,287. In the future, the NHIA shall continue to work on improving the quality of patient care and try to benefit as many patients in need as possible. The implementation of this program also helps to reduce the workload for registered nurses and thereby mitigate the turnover rate among registered nurses. Additionally, nursing assistants may receive stable incomes with this program, which in turn improves stability for the whole team. In conclusion, the implementation of this program brings material contributions to the overall wellbeing of the society and creates a win-win situation for all parties involved.