Integrated care ‘high demand, low supply’ in 59 cities, counties and districts… 67.8% are areas with population decline

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jan-di = Although integrated care has been implemented across the country, there appear to be clear differences in service supply conditions by region.

Areas with high demand for care but low service supply were 59 out of 229 cities, counties, and districts across the country, and 68% of them were areas with a declining population.

The satisfaction rate of care demand varied widely by service, reaching close to 97% for home visit care, while it was only in the single digits for short-term care and emergency care.

In particular, the supply of home-based health care services, such as home visits and doctors for the disabled, was uneven, and accessibility in areas with declining populations was weak.

◇ 93,136 people applied for integrated care… 78,677 people connected to service

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 13th the 'Community Integrated Care Survey', which analyzed the demand for care and the level of supply, regional distribution, and accessibility of major services in 229 cities, counties, and districts across the country.

Integrated care is a project that supports people in need of care so that they can receive the medical, nursing, and care services they need in an integrated manner, wherever they live.

The community integrated care survey is a survey conducted every five years to establish a basic plan in accordance with the Integrated Care Support Act. It was implemented for the first time since the nationwide implementation of integrated care on March 27 this year. In this survey, we analyzed the demand and supply gap by region, focusing on 16 major services linked to integrated care.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of August 31, the number of people in charge of integrated care in provinces, cities, counties and districts was 6,257. Personnel dedicated to integrated care are deployed in local governments across the country.

As of August 31st, the number of applicants for integrated care was 93,136, with an average of 870 per day. Most of the people were elderly (91,952 (98.7%)), and disabled people under 65 years old were 1,184 (1.3%).

The number of people who received services through integrated care was 78,677 (272,090 cases), with an average of 3.5 cases per person.

By service sector, daily life care was 42.9%, health care 20.6%, long-term care 12.3%, housing welfare 10.8%, health care 8.1%, and other 5.3%.

◇ Service ‘satisfaction rate’ home visit care 96.9%, short-term care 1.5%

The supply ‘satisfaction rate’ for 16 types of services linked to integrated care, such as health care and long-term care, varied greatly by service.

The level of supply compared to demand was relatively high for home visit nursing care (96.9%), disability activity support (89.7%), and home visit health care (75.6%). On the other hand, short-term care (1.5%), emergency care support project (7.0%), health doctor for the disabled (16.9%), and home medical center (17.7%) were significantly low.

The satisfaction rate is the result of comparing the demand for care, including potential demand, with the scale of service supply that organizations and personnel can currently provide, and it quantifies the extent to which the necessary services in the current region can be provided. The Ministry of Health and Welfare emphasized that it should be interpreted as a priority on which financial resources should be focused, rather than a utilization rate.

When comparing areas with population decline and other general areas, differences were identified in the level of supply and accessibility depending on the type of area and type of integrated care service.

The satisfaction rate for visiting medical services was 25.5% in general areas and 10.7% in areas with population decline. Home medical centers accounted for 20.6% and 8.3%, respectively.

On the other hand, community-centered rehabilitation, dementia prevention and management, home bathing, and customized care for the elderly had higher satisfaction rates in areas with population decline.

In relation to this, Jeong Hye-eun, head of the Integrated Care Policy Division, said, “It is presumed that this is because the local government has devoted attention and effort to meet the needs of residents.”

The distribution of resources between cities, counties and districts also differed by service type.

Short-term care, health care for the disabled, etc. were items with large differences between cities, counties, and districts due to the concentration of resources in specific regions. On the other hand, supply resources for home care, dementia prevention and management, etc. were found to be relatively evenly distributed.

Manager Jeong explained, “In particular, the level of supply of home-based health care services such as home care, home medical centers, and doctors for the disabled is still low, and resource distribution is also uneven.” He added, “There is a need to expand the supply base by considering both service characteristics and local conditions.”

◇ Care service ‘high demand, low supply’ in 59 cities, counties and districts

The difference between demand and supply of care services was noticeable in areas with declining populations.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare compared and analyzed the care needs of each region and the level of supply of 16 services by dividing them into four categories: ▲ high demand/high supply ▲ low demand/high supply ▲ low demand/low supply ▲ high demand/low supply.

As a result, 119 out of 229 cities, counties and districts across the country fell into low demand and low supply. There were 59 high demand/low supply, 38 high demand/high supply, and 13 low demand/high supply.

Compared to other regions, 40 (67.8%) of 59 cities, counties and districts with high demand and low supply were areas with a declining population, with high demand for care but low supply levels.

On the other hand, low demand and high supply included relatively large cities such as Seoul, Incheon, and Daejeon.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare pointed out that since the mix of care demand and service supply varies from region to region, this shows the need to vary services according to regional conditions rather than expanding services in the same manner across the country.

Based on the results of this survey, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to focus on alleviating regional disparities, such as distributing resources first to regions with low service supply and accessibility.

In addition, it was decided to reflect the survey results in the future integrated care basic plan and support local governments so that they can be used in establishing regional plans.

Local governments establish regional plans by November for cities, counties and districts by December, based on detailed data received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Each province, city, county and district will first specify the services and supply methods that need to be expanded.

Minister Jeong Eun-kyung said, "We will actively utilize the survey results in the basic plan and regional plans, and gradually expand necessary services in line with local conditions."