Healthcare for Migrants in Irregular Situations: Diagnoses and Costs at a Clinic in Helsinki, Finland
This study explores healthcare provision for migrants in irregular situations at a voluntary clinic in Helsinki, Finland. The research delves into the diagnoses, healthcare costs, and access challenges faced by this vulnerable population. The findings shed light on the critical health issues encountered by migrants and the economic implications of providing care for them in a restricted access environment.
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Healthcare for migrants in irregular situations Diagnoses and healthcare costs at a voluntary clinic in Helsinki, Finland Diagnoses and healthcare costs at a voluntary clinic in Helsinki, Finland Healthcare for migrants in irregular situations Tjukanov, Nina; Tiittala, Paula; Salmi, Heli
Conflicts of interest Affiliations Conflicts of interest Nina Tjukanov, MScA, midwife 1) Global Clinic, Helsinki 2) WHO, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health Dept. (external consultant) None to declare Paula Tiittala, MD 1) Global Clinic, Helsinki 3) National Institute for Health and Welfare, Dept. for Health Security None to declare Heli Salmi, MD, PhD 1) Global Clinic, Helsinki 4) University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital None to declare
Universal access? Restricted access has negative public health impacts and increases healthcare costs Migrants in irregular situations have restricted access to public services in many countries of Europe, including Finland Price tag is commonly used as a counterargument for adoption of universal access policies Six Global Clinics operate in Finland Karl-Tummer et. al. Eurohealth 2010:16(1)
What health problems do migrants in irregular situations have? What health problems do migrants in irregular situations have? What are the costs? What are the costs?
Cross-sectional register-based study Patient registry of the Global Clinic in Helsinki Inclusion: All visits during 2016 by age, sex, nationality, follow-up visit, reasons for encounter, type of appointment, diagnoses, treatment and referral Exclusion: Completely missing information International classification of primary healthcare (ICPC-2) Reasons for encounter and ICD-10 diagnoses converted to ICPC-2 diagnoses Conformity between study physicians was tested among 50 first encounters and algorithm for ICPC-2 conversion developed Unit costs by ICPC-2 chapters Based on national unit costs for healthcare in 2011 Correction coefficient was used to adjust for inflation from 2011 to 2016 Ethical approval obtained from Helsinki Deaconess Institute (29.10.2012)
559 visits in 2016 Figure 1. Age by sex. Figure 2. Nationalities.
0.002% Total costs for treatment at the Global Clinic in 2016 was 40.000 corresponding to 0.002 % of the total healthcare costs of public healthcare in Helsinki.
Limitations Unknown population -> Who are using the services? Morbidity? Extrapolation of costs is not possible Anonymous encounters complicate the assessment of treatment periods Possible overestimation of costs Treatment given also within the public healthcare system Possible underestimation of costs Next steps: comparison to general population Out-patient visits within the public healthcare in Helsinki as a control group Differences in health concerns?
Conclusions Migrants in irregular situations have diverse health problems majority of which can be treated in primary healthcare facilities The cost of primary level healthcare provided to migrants in irregular situations is relatively low More research is needed to understand the benefits of timely provided services in relation to total healthcare costs Contacts: Paula Tiittala, paula.tiittala@thl.fi
