Health Policy Manag.  2024 Jun;34(2):185-195. 10.4332/KJHPA.2024.34.2.185.

Factors Affecting the Registration and Access Levels of the Pilot Project for the General Physician System among People with Disabilities

• Choe E
• Gu Y
• Lim S

• KMID: 2562576
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4332/KJHPA.2024.34.2.185

Abstract

Background
Disabled people have particularly restricted access to health care. In response to this, the pilot project for the general physician (GP) system for disabled people was implemented in 2018, based on the rights of people with disability to the Health Act in South Korea. However, its participants were 0.2% among the total of those with severe disabilities in 2021. Therefore, this study examined the factors related to registering with a GP and the access level to its services to suggest implications for activating the participation of disabled people.
Methods
We analyzed factors affecting the registration with a GP and the number of using the services among the participants of the GP system during May 2018 and December 2021 by conducting hierarchical logistic regression and hierarchical regression. The data were linked with the national health insurance data to examine various predictors, including disability types, socioeconomic status, health status, and GP registration.
Results
As a result of analyzing the factors affecting whether or not to register for the pilot project, those with disabilities (physical disabilities, brain lesions, visual, intellectual, mental, and autistic disability) eligible for disability care (odds ratio [OR], 4.157) than other disability, and those living in metropolitan (OR, 4.330) or cities (OR, 3.332) than rural residences were highly likely to enroll the pilot study. Health-related variables also predicted the registration status of the pilot project. The predictors related to GP enrollment types (membership type: general health or disability care, GP’s affiliation: clinics or hospitals) significantly influenced levels of access to services.
Conclusion
It is necessary to develop the GP project for disabled people by considering the variation in types of disability, residences, and health. Further study will be needed to investigate the impact of GPs on the level of participation among disabled people.

Keyword

General practitioners; Disabled persons; Health services accessibility; Primary health care