Impact of Health Insurance on Accessibility of Physical Therapy’s Patients at King Fahd Hospital of the University-AL Khobar

Abstract

Physiotherapy plays an essential role in modern healthcare delivery as it provides a wide range of non-surgical treatments to treat chronic diseases. Physiotherapy includes many clinical guidelines as treatment and rehabilitation services improve patients' lives. Changes in health insurance policies and coverage affect costs Borne by patients and their families; this can lead to a variety of services and barriers to appropriate healthcare. The study goal is to describe the impact of Health Insurance on Accessibility among Physical Therapy Patients at King Fahd Hospital of the University-AL Khobar to describe the benefits of Health insurance on accessibility among physical therapy patients and to explore the barriers and challenges of Health insurance on accessibility among physical therapy patients.We carried out a descriptive cross-sectional survey design to describe the physical therapy patients' perception toward health insurance accessibility at King Fahd Hospital of the University-AL Khobar. Data were collected on Monday, March 9th, 2021, through self-administered questionnaires that 740 surveys were distributed, and only 544 patients participated in the survey. The data finished collecting on April 1st, 2021. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyze the data.

Overall, 544 respondents completed the survey. This study clearly shows that access to health care services is a significant concern that accessibility of physical therapy was confirmed by 36.6%. Low accessibility due to the high cost of physical therapy was reported by 36.9% of patients included. Accessibility to physical therapy upon need was not written in a high frequency 30% versus 29.6% as not sure. Accessibility to facilities was highly reported by 29.6%; insurance companies enhancing accessibility to physical therapy was not approved by the majority of the included participants 37.1%. Also, insurance companies offering multiple choices for physical therapy were only agreed on 26.8%. Finally, the quality of service differs based on the facility's nature and was approved by 50.2% of included patients. Direct access to physical therapy is an example of providing an innovative primary care service that is achievable, acceptable to both users and service providers, and health insurance will positively impact access to the healthcare system. However, accessibility is a necessary term that must be taken care of to define the need for healthcare to deliver healthcare services and organizational structures to match the community's needs.