A hospital outpatient integrated care plan was launched by the Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) in December 2009 and so far the plan has showed early signs of success. Under the policy of holistic health care, the BNHI is working hard to encourage more hospitals to join the plan and provide integrated services to more patients. To further increase understanding of the plan among hospital administrators, doctors, and medical practitioners, the BNHI Taipei division conducted the seminar “A hospital outpatient integrated care plan model: BNHI Taipei Division” in collaboration with Taiwan Association of Family Medicine, Taiwan Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and Mackay Memorial Hospital on September 24, 2010. Participants included NHI Supervisory Committee, hospital superintendents, doctors, medical practitioners, and staff from the Department of Health (DOH) and the BNHI. Several senior doctors served as keynote speakers and shared their views on patient-oriented healthcare issues. The BNHI Taipei Division reported on their preliminary results in encouraging hospitals to adopt the plan. Cardinal Tien Hospital Yung Ho Branch, Taipei Hospital under the DOH, and Mackay Memorial Hospital shared their experiences in adopting IDS. Several patients who enjoyed the benefits of IDS were also invited to share their experiences and views at the seminar. In addition, patients who could not make it to the seminar in person also recorded video tapes which were shown at the seminar.

The hospital outpatient IDS was a pilot plan initiated in December 2009 and included 189 hospitals participating in the program (18 medical centers, 72 regional hospitals and 99 district hospitals). Hospitals in the program are encouraged to provide integrated medical care to patients with multiple illnesses. There are approximately 620,000 such patients in Taiwan. The BNHI Taipei Division is in charge of hospitals in Taipei City, Taipei County, Keelung, Yilan, and Kinmen. A total of 37 hospitals in these regions participated in the program, benefiting approximately 245,000 patients. Most of these hospitals provide complete and necessary medical care to patients in just one medical visit. At such hospitals, patients who need medical care at more than one department are not required to pay multiple registration fees or co-payments. Patients can have their needs attended to in a single hospital visit. The results of the program between December 2009 and June 2010 show that under the IDS, 0.3 fewer medicine items (i.e. 6% fewer) were used per patient per month and 0.134 fewer hospital visits (i.e. 12% fewer) were made. Each patient saved approximately NT$34 of copayment and N$20 of registration fee. With the 245,000 patients with multiple illnesses in the BNHI Taipei Division, a total of approximately NT$158 million of self- paid medical expenses could be saved annually. Moreover, the program can also help reduce social costs significantly, such as time spent on multiple medical visits and on accompanying family members to hospitals, traffic costs, and so on.