The Effect of Health Insurance on the Utilization of Health Services: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Authors

  • Elham Shami Iranian Center of Excellence for Health Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
  • Jafar Sadegh Tabrizi Department of Health Services Management, Tabriz Health Services Management Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
  • Shirin Nosratnejad 1. Iranian Center of Excellence for Health Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran 2. Iranian Center of Excellence in Health Services Management, Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31661/gmj.v8i.1411

Keywords:

Health Care Utilization, Health Insurance, Inpatient, Outpatient Care

Abstract

Insurance organizations are among the most influential organizations in the health system, which can lead to healthcare efficiency and patient satisfaction in case they are increasingly accessed. The main purpose of the present systematic review was to examine the effect of health insurance on the utilization of health services and also to examine the factors affecting it. The present study was a systematic review that aimed to examine the effect of health insurance on the utilization of health care services. The study was conducted in 2016 using Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, and ProQuest databases. We examined the utilization rate of health insurance in insured people. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were included based on review and meta-analysis purposes. The utilization of health services increased for inpatient and outpatient services. The utilization rate of inpatient services increased by 0.51% whereas the utilization rate of outpatient services increased by 1.26%. We classified the variables affecting the utilization rate of insurance into three main categories and sub-categories: demographic variables of the household, socioeconomic status, and health status. Our study showed that insured people increased the utilization rate of health services, depending on the type of health services. Thus, health policymakers should consider the community’s health insurance as a priority for health programs. For now, implementing universal health insurance is a good solution. [GMJ.2019;8:e1411]

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Published

2019-10-14

Issue

Section

Review Article