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Business of Medicine/Practice Management

(510) Trend of Educational Placements in Hearing Impairment Students in Taiwan

Monday, October 2, 2023
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM East Coast USA Time
Has Audio

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Wei-Chung Hung

    Resident, Department of Otolaryngology
    Cathay general hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

  • Te-Yung Fang, MD

    Attending Physician, Department of Otolaryngology
    Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

  • Pa-Chun Wang, MD

    CEO
    Joint Commission Taiwan
    Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

    • Senior Author(s)

  • Pa-Chun Wang, MD

    CEO
    Joint Commission Taiwan
    Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

    • Co-Author(s)

  • PL

    Pei-Hsuan Lin, MD

    National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, USA

  • YK

    Yu Ko, PhD

    Research Center for Pharmacoeconomics, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, USA

  • Chen-Chi Wu, MD

    Professor
    National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    Taipei, Taipei, USA

Disclosure(s):
Wei-Chung Hung: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Te-Yung Fang, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Pa-Chun Wang, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: Cochlear implantation (CI) is not only clinically effective but also cost- effective from payer’s perspective. In fact, the real cost benefits after CI are beyond the healthcare sector. The purpose of this study is to investigate the educational placement and its estimated cost saving after more students with hearing impairment (HL) receiving CI in Taiwan.

Methods: Secondary data source from government was used to calculate the change of the educational placements and the average cost per student with HL. The number of HL students with different types of class placements, including centralized special classes, decentralized resource rooms, itinerant resource programs, and regular classes from 2001 to 2021 were retrieved. On the basis of the budget of Ministry of Education for special schools and mainstream schools, the annual cost for each disabled student with different type resources of the mainstream schools and special schools was calculated according to the number of the students and the ratio of teachers per student.

Results: We select 2009, 2015, and 2021 school year to represent the period of hearing devices in students with severe to profound HL shift from bilateral hearing aids (HA) to unilateral CI, then to bilateral CIs. The percentage of the students with HL attending regular classes were increasing, from 68% in 2009 to 84% in 2021, and the students with severe to profound HL attending centralized special classes were decreasing, from 25% in 2009 to 11% in 2021. The cost per student with disabilities in centralized special classes, decentralized resource rooms, itinerant resource programs, and regular classes were USD $44299, $17227, $8204, and $6917, respectively, per year. The decline in the percentage of attending special classes from 2009 to 2021 resulted in cost saving. The average costs per student with HL were $16952 in 2009, $12586 in 2015, and $11123 in 2021.

Conclusions: The longitudinal nationwide data demonstrated the migration of the educational placements after more students with severe to profound HL receiving CI. The estimated cost saving per student year from 2009 to 2021 were $5469.