Rich patients wait less time to operate

A study indicates that patients with higher income They wait less time to be operated on than the most disadvantaged in public hospitals, a difference that varies depending on the type of operation, but can exceed 20%.

The results of the research were presented at the recent Congress of the Health Economics Association (AES) and are pending publication in a scientific journal, as reported this Friday by El País and sources from the organization have confirmed to EFE.

The work, whose main author is the researcher from the University of York (United Kingdom) Laia Bosque Mercader, compares the waiting times of ten types of surgical operations with tens of thousands of cases in the Catalan health system between 2015 and 2019, and relates them to four income levels, based on information on the pharmaceutical co-payment.

Thus, the study compares the waiting of patients with a low socioeconomic position (income less than 18,000 euros per year) with very low (unemployed or recipients of non-contributory pensions), medium (between 18,000 and 100,000 euros) and high (more than 100,000 euros).

In the case of hip replacement surgerywith an average delay of 149 days, citizens with a very low socioeconomic position wait 5.6 days more (3.8%) than those with low socioeconomic status, while those with average incomes wait 4.8 days less (3. 2%) and discharges 21.1 days less (14.1%).

In the operations of knee prosthesis (170 days on average), patients in the high band wait 36.7 days less (21.5%) than those in the low band. Patients with a very low socioeconomic status wait 14.2 days longer than those with a low position to undergo a coronary bypass, a difference that represents 37% of the general average wait of 38 days, which is the longest found by the researchers.

As for the oncological interventionswhich are of greater urgency, the differences are repeated in some cases, but are generally smaller.

According to the authors of the study, these differences could be explained by the fact that patients with higher incomes have mores skills to move through the health system and claim; they enjoy greater time flexibility to attend all appointments and have more contacts and social relationships.