LOOKING INTO US X-RAY: USE OF HEALTH RESOURCES BY TRADE UNION’S SOCIAL SECURITY

Objective: To know the usage rate of medical services provided by a Trade Union’s Social Security (TUSS) during the months of August – October 2014, and patient admissions on the span of a year. Compare them with the work published in 2011 by the Argentinian Health Ministry (AHM), El Acceso a la Salud en Argentina. Materials and Methods: Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. We analyzed the census of adults (18 and over) affiliated to a TUSS on the period of June 1st, 2014 through May 30th, 2015, looking for the following variables: • Scheduled consultations (in a High Complexity Hospital, peripheral Clinics and other centers) • Non-scheduled consultations (spontaneous demand, emergency department, and ambulance) • Inpatient (in a High Complexity Hospital and other centers) These were compared to the following indicators from AHM’s work: • Medical consultations • Patient admissions Study population: Affiliates to a national TUSS, based in Buenos Aires City and its metropolitan area. Inclusion criteria: affiliates 18 and over that remained on the census during the studied period. Exclusion criteria: affiliates younger than 18, or those who didn’t remain on the census during the studied period. Results and conclusions: The monthly medical consultations on the TUSS were 36.46%, compared to a 45.7% as reported by the AHM. Regarding patients admissions, the TUSS had a 0.79% per month vs. 0.83% described by the AHM; annually this represents a 9.53% admission in the TUSS and a 10% informed by the AHM. Only a small part of the population requires admission to solve a health-related problem.