Discretionary decisions and disparities in receiving drug-eluting stents under a universal healthcare system: A population-based study

One of the main objectives behind the expansion of insurance coverage is to eliminate disparities in health and healthcare. However, researchers have not yet fully elucidated the reasons for disparities in the use of high-cost treatments among patients of different occupations. Furthermore, it remains unknown whether discretionary decisions made at the hospital level have an impact on the administration of high-cost interventions in a universal healthcare system. This study investigated the adoption of drug-eluting stents (DES) versus bare metal-stents (BMS) among patients in different occupations and income levels, with the aim of gauging the degree to which the inclination of health providers toward treatment options could affect treatment choices at the patient-level within a universal healthcare system. We adopted a cross-sectional observational study design using hierarchical modeling in conjunction with the population-based National Health Insurance database of Taiwan. Patients who received either a BMS or a DES between 2007 and 2010 were included in the study. During the period of study, 42,124 patients received a BMS (65.3%) and 22,376 received DES (34.7%). Patients who were physicians or the family members of physicians were far more likely to receive DES (OR: 3.18, CI: 2.38-4.23) than were patients who were neither physicians nor in other high-status jobs (employers, other medical professions, or public service). Similarly, patients in the top 5% income bracket had a higher probability of receiving a DES (OR: 2.23, CI: 2.06-2.47, p < .001), than were patients in the lowest income bracket. After controlling for patient-level factors, the inclination of hospitals (proportion of DES>50% or between 25% and 50%) was shown to be strongly associated with the selection of DESs (OR: 3.64 CI: 3.24-4.09 and OR: 2.16, CI: 2.01-2.33, respectively). Even under the universal healthcare system in Taiwan, socioeconomic disparities in the use of high-cost services remain widespread. Differences in the care received by patients of lower socioeconomic status may be due to the discretionary decisions of healthcare providers.