Parliamentary QA
Data on Outpatient Visits for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Spondyloarthritis
6 October 2020
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Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang
MP for Nee Soon GRC
Question No. 88
To ask the Minister for Health (a) for each year in the past five years, for systemic lupus erythematosus and spondyloarthritis respectively, what is (i) the average and median number of outpatient visits in public hospitals per unique patient and (ii) the average and median costs of each outpatient visit in public hospitals; and (b) whether the Ministry will start collecting this data if it is not available.
Answer
1 Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic multisystem autoimmune disease that has a wide range of clinical manifestations that can affect virtually any organ. Spondyloarthritis is the term for a group of diseases that causes inflammation in the spine and joints.
2 Data on the number of Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOC) visits, bill sizes, and out-of-pocket expenses per SOC visit in the past five years, collected from the public health institutions (PHIs), is presented in the table below:
Number of SOC visits, bill size, and out-of-pocket expenses
Table caption
Year | Average no. of SOC visits in PHIs per unique patient | Median no. of SOC visits in PHIs per unique patient | Average bill& per SOC visit | Average OOP# per SOC visit | Median bill& per SOC visit | Median OOP# per SOC visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus | ||||||
2015 | 4.5 | 4.0 | $173.48 | $32.06 | $104.01 | $93.00 |
2016 | 4.5 | 4.0 | $173.87 | $37.88 | $104.69 | $97.00 |
2017 | 4.5 | 4.0 | $183.54 | $43.74 | $107.53 | $104.00 |
2018 | 4.4 | 4.0 | $175.83 | $45.60 | $106.34 | $98.00 |
2019 | 4.5 | 4.0 | $173.95 | $46.27 | $107.65 | $102.00 |
Spondyloarthritis | ||||||
2015 | 2.6 | 2.0 | $238.99 | $70.72 | $125.00 | $88.00 |
2016 | 2.6 | 2.0 | $212.70 | $75.33 | $114.00 | $86.00 |
2017 | 2.6 | 2.0 | $231.02 | $75.85 | $132.00 | $94.00 |
2018 | 2.7 | 2.0 | $235.46 | $79.16 | $125.00 | $92.00 |
2019 | 2.7 | 2.0 | $234.39 | $87.12 | $125.00 | $93.00 |
Source: PHIs
& Refers to median/average bill size (which includes consultation, medication and treatment) after government subsidies, but before 3Ms (MediSave, MediShield Life and MediFund), Integrated Shield Plan payouts, employer benefits and other 3rd party payers
# Refers to out-of-pocket payments, which are bill sizes after government subsidies, 3Ms, Integrated Shield Plan payouts, employer benefits and other 3rd party payers.