medical practice variations...01-11-1994 n50 n135 462755 462766 yes yes radiographie du côlon, y...

Specialists in training - Abdominal radiography - Including esophagus

1

Medical practice variations

Abdominal radiography - Including esophagus

Analysis of the distribution and evolution of medical practice in Belgium, in terms of volume and expenditure per insured

(analysis and trends by region, province and district), for the year 2019

NIHDI – Healthcare Service – Directorate for Research, Development and Quality promotion Appropriate care unit

Meeus, Pascal, Virginie Dalcq and Delphine Beauport Leon D’hulster, Lucien Hoekx, Kathleen Sierens, Benjamin Swine

Contact: [email protected]

Date of report: 5 August 2020

mailto:[email protected]


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CONTENTS

CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3

2. SPECIFIC METHOD OF ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

A. NIHDI NOMENCLATURE CODES SELECTED FOR ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4

B. PAST HISTORY OF NOMENCLATURE CODES ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

C. SOURCE OF DATA AND ANALYSIS PERIOD ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

D. SPECIFIC SELECTION CRITERIA .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7

E. STANDARDISATION........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7

3. RESULTS ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8

A. NATIONAL STANDARDISED RATE OF USE............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

B. BREAKDOWN OF NOMENCLATURE CODES PROVIDED, BY VOLUME ........................................................................................................................................................... 9

C. SPECIALISATION OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS .................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

D. SPECIALISATION OF PRESCRIBERS.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

E. STANDARDISED RATE OF USE BY GENDER AND AGE GROUP................................................................................................................................................................... 12

F. STANDARDISED RATE OF USE: HOSPITAL AND OUTPATIENT CARE ........................................................................................................................................................... 16

G. STANDARDISED RATE OF USE BY REIMBURSEMENT RATE ...................................................................................................................................................................... 18

H. TRENDS IN STANDARDISED RATES OF USE ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 20

I. GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS IN STANDARDISED RATES OF USE .............................................................................................................................................................. 23

J. STANDARDISED HEALTHCARE EXPENDITURE BORNE BY THE INSURANCE .................................................................................................................................................. 28

4. KEY DATA SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31

5. APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32

A. ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 32

B. FREQUENCY OF PRACTICE OCCURRENCES......................................................................................................................................................................................... 33

C. PATIENT CARE SETTINGS ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34

D. CODING VARIATIONS AND PRACTICE ALTERNATIVES ............................................................................................................................................................................ 35


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1. INTRODUCTION

The Appropriate Care Unit was set up within the NIHDI’s Directorate for Research, Development and Quality under NIHDI’s Admin-

istration Contract for 2016-20181. Article 35 of this contract refers to ‘the setting up of an Appropriate Care Unit, aiming specifically

to promote an integrated approach to the rational use of resources’. The Appropriate Care Unit has been up and running since the

second quarter of 2017.

The tasks of the Unit were set out formally in the ‘2016-2017 Healthcare monitoring Action plan’, published by NIHDI on 18 July 20162.

This plan lists around thirty measures designed to make healthcare provision more efficient, by encouraging appropriate practice and

tackling unnecessary or inappropriate care.

The plan states that one of the tasks of the Appropriate Care Unit is to analyse the ‘appropriateness of care’, in order to identify

unexplained variations in consumption patterns, identified after standardisation. Such variations can potentially point to non-optimal

use of resources.

‘Variations in medical practice’ documents report on the analyses carried out in this framework. Each report focuses on a particular

topic.

In this document, we present the figures and graphs relating to analyses3 of practice in the area of Abdominal radiography - Including

esophagus, and give the explanations necessary to understand these.

We have deliberately chosen not to attempt to interpret the figures, preferring to present the results to experts who are in a better

position to do so. This document has nevertheless been made available to the public in order to provide objective, open input to

discussions on this issue.

1 (Institut national d'assurance maladie-invalidité, 2016) 2 (Institut national d'assurance maladie-invalidité, 2016) 3 Readers interested in the methodology used in these quantitative analyses should consult the document entitled ‘Variations in practice – Methodology’.


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2. SPECIFIC METHOD OF ANALYSIS

A. NIHDI nomenclature codes selected for analysis

The NIHDI nomenclature codes selected for the analysis are listed below:

Outpatient Inpatient Rates Expenses Inclusive Exclusive Label Creation Deletion Group N Value

450015 450026 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'abdomen et/ou de la région pelvienne pour examen direct

sans manipulation ni moyen de contraste, quel que soi t le nombre de cl ichés

(non cumulable avec les prestations n°s 450516 - 450520, 451010 - 451021,

455276 - 445280, effectuées le même jour)

01-04-1985 N50 N35

450516 450520 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'abdomen et/ou de la région vés ica le pour examen direct

sans manipulation ni moyen de contraste, quel que soi t le nombre de cl ichés

(non cumulable avec les prestations n°s 450015-450026, 451010-451021 et

455276-455280 effectuées le même jour)

01-04-1985 N50 N35

451010 451021 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'abdomen et/ou de la région vés icula i re pour examen direct,

sans manipulation ni moyens de contraste, quel que soi t le nombre de

cl ichés (non cumulable avec les prestations n°s 450015 - 450026, 450516 -

450520,451312 - 451323, 451356 - 451360, 451393 - 451404, 451430 - 451441, 451474

- 451485, 451511 - 451522, 451710 - 451721, 451754 - 451765, 451813 - 451824,

451894 - 451905 et 455276 - 455280 effectuées le même jour)

01-04-1985 N50 N45

451135 451146 yes yesRadiographie de l 'oesophage avec examen radioscopique avec ampl i ficateur

de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion, minimum 6 cl ichés01-04-1985 N50 N50

451312 451323 yes yesRadiographie du trans i t de la région i léocoecale avec examen radioscopique

avec ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion, minimum 4 cl ichés01-04-1985 N50 N95

451356 451360 yes yesRadiographie du trans i t complet du grêle, avec examen radioscopique avec

ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion, minimum deux cl ichés01-04-1985 N50 N135

451393 451404 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'oesophage (minimum 6 cl ichés), et de l 'es tomac (minimum

2 cl ichés), avec examen radioscopique avec ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et

chaîne de télévis ion

01-04-1985 N50 N105

451430 451441 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'oesophage (minimum 4 cl ichés), et de l 'es tomac et du

duodénum en série (minimum 6 cl ichés), avec examen radioscopique avec

ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion

01-04-1985 N50 N165

451474 451485 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'es tomac et du duodénum en série (minimum 6 cl ichés), et

du trans i t du grêle, y compris éventuel lement la région i léocoecale et le côlon

(minimum 6 cl ichés), avec examen radioscopique avec ampl i ficateur de

bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion

01-04-1985 N50 N175

451511 451522 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'oesophage (minimum 4 cl ichés) et de l 'es tomac et du

duodénum en série (minimum 6 cl ichés) et du trans i t du grêle, y compris

éventuel lement la région i léocoecale et le côlon (minimum 6 cl ichés) avec

examen radioscopique avec ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion

01-04-1985 N50 N230

451710 451721 yes yes

Radiographie du côlon, y compris éventuel lement la région i léocoecale, par

lavement baryté après rempl issage, évacuation et éventuel lement

insufflation, minimum 4 cl ichés avec examen radioscopique avec


01-04-1985 N50 N135

451754 451765 yes yes


lavement baryté après rempl issage, évacuation et insufflation par la

technique du double contraste, minimum 8 cl ichés avec examen

radioscopique avec ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion

01-04-1985 N50 N200

461510 461521 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'abdomen et/ou de la région vés ica le pour examen direct

sans manipulation ni moyens de contraste quel que soi t le nombre de cl ichés

(non cumulable avec la prestation 466270-466281 effectuée le même jour)

01-11-1994 N50 N35

462431 462442 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'oesophage (minimum 4 cl ichés), et de l 'es tomac et du

duodénum.en série (minimum 6 cl ichés), avec examen radioscopique avec


01-11-1994 N50 N165

462512 462523 yes yes

Radiographie de l 'oesophage (minimum 4 cl ichés) et de l 'es tomac et du

duodénum en série (minimum 6 cl ichés) et du trans i t du grêle, y compris

éventuel lement la région i léocoecale et le côlon (minimum 6 cl ichés) avec

examen radioscopique avec ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion

01-11-1994 N50 N230

462711 462722 yes yes


lavement baryté après rempl issage, évacuation et éventuel lement

insufflation, minimum 4 cl ichés avec examen radioscopique avec


01-11-1994 N50 N135

462755 462766 yes yes


lavement baryté après rempl issage, évacuation et insufflation, par la

technique du double contraste, minimum 8 cl ichés avec examen

radioscopique avec ampl i ficateur de bri l lance et chaîne de télévis ion

01-11-1994 N50 N200

This table shows the NIHDI nomenclature codes selected for this analysis, stating whether or not they were included in the analyses of services and expenditure, and giving, for each one, a description, dates of creation and deletion, where appropriate, their N group (in the NIHDI nomenclature) and their value.


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B. Past history of nomenclature codes

Outpatient Inpatient Date Label Group N Value

450015 450026 01-06-2001

Radiographie de l'abdomen et/ou de la région pelvienne pour examen direct sans manipulation ni moyen de

contraste, quel que soit le nombre de clichés (non cumulable avec les prestations n°s 450516 - 450520, 451010 -

451021, 455276 - 445280, effectuées le même jour)

N50 N35

450516 450520 01-06-2001

Radiographie de l'abdomen et/ou de la région vésicale pour examen direct sans manipulation ni moyen de

contraste, quel que soit le nombre de clichés (non cumulable avec les prestations n°s 450015-450026, 451010-

451021 et 455276-455280 effectuées le même jour)

N50 N35

451010 451021 01-03-2002

Radiographie de l'abdomen et/ou de la région vésiculaire pour examen direct, sans manipulation ni moyens de

contraste, quel que soit le nombre de clichés (non cumulable avec les prestations n°s 450015 - 450026, 450516 -

450520,451312 - 451323, 451356 - 451360, 451393 - 451404, 451430 - 451441, 451474 - 451485, 451511 - 451522, 451710

- 451721, 451754 - 451765, 451813 - 451824, 451894 - 451905 et 455276 - 455280 effectuées le même jour)

N50 N45

451135 451146 01-11-1992Radiographie de l'oesophage avec examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévision,

minimum 6 clichésN50 N50

451312 451323 01-04-1985Radiographie du transit de la région iléocoecale avec examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et

chaîne de télévision, minimum 4 clichésN50 N95

451356 451360 01-11-1992Radiographie du transit complet du grêle, avec examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne

de télévision, minimum deux clichésN50 N135

451393 451404 01-04-1985Radiographie de l'oesophage (minimum 6 clichés), et de l'estomac (minimum 2 clichés), avec examen

radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévisionN50 N105

451430 451441 01-04-1985Radiographie de l'oesophage (minimum 4 clichés), et de l'estomac et du duodénum en série (minimum 6 clichés),

avec examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévisionN50 N165

451474 451485 01-11-1992

Radiographie de l'estomac et du duodénum en série (minimum 6 clichés), et du transit du grêle, y compris

éventuellement la région iléocoecale et le côlon (minimum 6 clichés), avec examen radioscopique avec

amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévision

N50 N175

451511 451522 01-04-1985

Radiographie de l'oesophage (minimum 4 clichés) et de l'estomac et du duodénum en série (minimum 6 clichés)

et du transit du grêle, y compris éventuellement la région iléocoecale et le côlon (minimum 6 clichés) avec

examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévision

N50 N230

451710 451721 01-04-1985

Radiographie du côlon, y compris éventuellement la région iléocoecale, par lavement baryté après remplissage,

évacuation et éventuellement insufflation, minimum 4 clichés avec examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de

brillance et chaîne de télévision

N50 N135

451754 451765 31-12-1986


évacuation et insufflation par la technique du double contraste, minimum 8 clichés avec examen radioscopique

avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévision

N50 N200

461510 461521 01-11-1994

Radiographie de l'abdomen et/ou de la région vésicale pour examen direct sans manipulation ni moyens de

contraste quel que soit le nombre de clichés (non cumulable avec la prestation 466270-466281 effectuée le même

jour)

N50 N35

462431 462442 01-11-1994Radiographie de l'oesophage (minimum 4 clichés), et de l'estomac et du duodénum.en série (minimum 6 clichés),

avec examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévisionN50 N165

462512 462523 01-11-1994

Radiographie de l'oesophage (minimum 4 clichés) et de l'estomac et du duodénum en série (minimum 6 clichés)

et du transit du grêle, y compris éventuellement la région iléocoecale et le côlon (minimum 6 clichés) avec

examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévision

N50 N230

462711 462722 01-11-1994


évacuation et éventuellement insufflation, minimum 4 clichés avec examen radioscopique avec amplificateur de

brillance et chaîne de télévision

N50 N135

462755 462766 01-11-1994


évacuation et insufflation, par la technique du double contraste, minimum 8 clichés avec examen radioscopique

avec amplificateur de brillance et chaîne de télévision

N50 N200

This table displays the historic evolution of the definitions of the NIHDI-nomenclature codes taken into account for this analysis as well as the historic evolution of their value and of group N (of the NIHDI-nomenclature). This table only displays the modifications implemented during the period 2009-2019. If no changes have taken place over this period, only the current information is shown.


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C. Source of data and analysis period

The data used in the analyses have been taken from the following databases:

Document N for the utilisation rate and amount of expenses of insured persons (who meet the selection criteria) whose age, sex, preferential regime and residence are known 2009-2019

Document P for the utilisation rate and amount of expenses of insured persons (who meet the selection criteria) by type of medical specialities in 2017-2019

- -

- -

Analysis period 2009-2019

'N Documents' are monthly data sent by the sickness funds to NIHDI, within three months. These data show the number of services provided, dates and the fees involved. Every six months, these data are compiled by the insurers, which also add data on patients: age, gender, social category and district of residence. N Documents, however, cannot be used to analyse the combinations of services received by individual patients.

'P Documents' are six-monthly data sent by the sickness funds to NIHDI, within four months. These data show the services provided, the service-provider, the prescriber, the place of provision of service, and the hospital where patients were treated. P Documents can be used to monitor medical consumption and pricing, but not (yet) to analyse services per patient.


7

D. Specific selection criteria

Several filters may have been applied to the data, so that only one section of the population is considered in analyses. If so, the fil-

ters used are shown in the table below:

FILTERS APPLIED TO DATA

Gender Women and men

Age All - -

E. Standardisation

The data are standardised before analysis per year, based on age, sex and preferential regime per arrondissement, province and re-

gion.

Standardisation renders populations comparable in relation to one or several criteria. If a difference is observed between these populations, we can therefore assume that it is not due to the criteria covered by the standardisation process.


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3. RESULTS

A. National standardised rate of use

TOTAL

Average number of interventions per year 254.558

Standardised rate of use per 100,000 insured persons

2.207


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B. Breakdown of nomenclature codes provided, by volume

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Perc

enta

ge n

om

encla

ture

codes

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Year

451010-451021

451430-451441

Other

See page 4 for details about the NIHDI nomenclature codes selected for analysis.


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C. Specialisation of healthcare providers

Specialisation of the provider Total providers Concerned providers % Providers Median of H.C. services Number of H.C. services % Total H.C. services Expenses % Expenses

Radiology 1609 1423 88% 127 253050 99% 7.824.877,05 99%

Other specialities 5000 95 2% 28 1983 1% 97.236,15 1%

Total 6609 1518 23% 112 255033 100% 7.922.113,20 100%

This table shows the following non-standardised data, by medical specialities (average figures for the period 2019):

- The number of service-providers per specialisation who have recorded at least one service; - The number of service-providers recording services under the nomenclature codes selected for this analysis; - The service-providers for these codes as a percentage of the total number of service-providers recording provision of at least one service; - The median number of services per service-provider (recording provision under these codes); - The number of services provided; - The service percentage, i.e. the number of services recorded for this specialisation as a percentage of total services provided; - Expenditure; - The expenditure percentage, i.e. the expenditure on this specialisation as a percentage of total expenditure.


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D. Specialisation of prescribers

Specialisation of the prescriber Total prescribers Concerned prescribers % Prescribers Median of prescriptions Number of prescriptions % Prescriptions Expenses % ExpensesSpecialists in training 7833 3734 48% 6 51260 20% 1.468.122,01 19%

General practitioners 16808 7262 43% 2 39543 16% 1.007.035,87 13%

General surgery 1844 874 47% 15 33165 13% 1.743.328,88 22%

Acute and emergency medicine 574 480 84% 22 21838 9% 482.395,53 6%

Gastroenterology 836 686 82% 18 19446 8% 859.829,20 11%

Geriatrics 384 318 83% 33 18304 7% 436.525,77 6%

Urology 517 365 71% 24 15039 6% 314.563,96 4%

Paediatrics 1932 1015 53% 4 11148 4% 362.268,99 5%

Anesthesia-reanimation 2636 551 21% 2 10314 4% 236.892,75 3%

Internal medicine 1413 645 46% 4 7998 3% 204.753,72 3%

General practitioners in training 3508 992 28% 2 4872 2% 114.497,24 1%

Non-specialized physicians 3219 405 13% 2 4183 2% 101.471,64 1%

Other specialities 23088 3399 15% 57 17923 7% 590.427,64 7%

Total 64592 20726 32% 3 255033 100% 7.922.113,20 100%

This table shows, in order, the following non-standardised data per specialities (average figures for the period 2019):

- The number of prescribers who have prescribed at least one service; - The number of prescribers prescribing the nomenclature codes selected for this analysis; - The prescribers prescribing these codes as a percentage of the number of prescribers prescribing at least one service; - The median number of services per prescriber (prescribing these codes); - The number of services prescribed; - The percentage of services prescribed, i.e. the number of prescriptions issued for this specialisation as a percentage of total services prescribed; - Expenditure; - The expenditure percentage, i.e. expenditure on this specialisation as a percentage of total expenditure.


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E. Standardised rate of use by gender and age group

TOTAL

Average number of interventions per year 254.558 Median age (years) 63

Mean age (years) 58,17 Max/Min Ratio of the median age

(by district) 1,5

Percentage of women 56,91%

Max/Min Ratio:

The max/min ratio measures the dispersion of values. It is calculated as the ratio of the maximum value found for the variable, in all districts, to the minimum value. If this minimum value is equal to zero, the max/min ratio cannot be calculated, and should be given as ‘NA’ (‘not applicable’).


13

Standardised rate of use per 100,000 insured persons, and variation coefficient for the districts, by age

group and gender, for the year 2019

Coefficient of variation (all ages)Total standardised number of H.C. services

Coefficient of variationStandardised number of H.C. services

1,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.811,938.81

26.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.7126.71

Man

2,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.042,466.04

26.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.9226.92

Woman

00-04

05-09

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70-74

75-79

80-84

85-89

90-94

95+00-04

05-09

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70-74

75-79

80-84

85-89

90-94

95+

0

20

40

60

80

Coeff

icie

nt

of

vari

ation (

%)

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

Sta

ndard

ised n

um

ber

of

H.C

. se

rvic

es

per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

This figure is made up of bar charts for each gender. The coef-ficient of variation, shown by the red line, measures the relative dispersion of the standardised rates of use observed for each district, by age group and gender (standard deviation divided by the mean). This line is shown in bold for age groups where the variation coefficient can be val-idly interpreted (i.e. for age groups in which there are suffi-cient insured persons per district to allow for a proper compari-son).

The left-hand vertical axis of the graph plots the standardised rate of use, and the right-hand axis plots the variation coefficient. The horizontal axis shows the di-vision by age group. The horizon-tal dotted lines show the total values of the standardised rates of use (in blue) and of the varia-tion coefficient (in red).


14

Comparison of the standardised rates of use for women and men (per 100,000) in 2019

0

2,500

5,000

7,500

10,000

12,500

15,000

17,500

20,000

Sta

ndard

ised n

um

ber

of

H.C

. se

rvic

es

per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

00-04

05-09

10-14

15-19

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49

50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69

70-74

75-79

80-84

85-89

90-94

95+

Age group

Man

Woman


15

Standardised rate of use per 100,000 insured persons, by gender and by province for the year 2019

2,466.04

1,938.81

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

Sta

ndard

ised n

um

ber

of

H.C

. se

rvic

es

West-Vlaanderen

Oost-Vlaanderen

Antw

erpen

Limburg

Vlaams-Brabant

Brussels

Brabant Wallon

Hainaut

Liège

Nam

ur

Luxembourg

TOTA

L

TOTAL ManTOTAL Woman

ManWoman

This histogram shows standard-ised rates of use by province and by gender. The grey bars show the rates for men, while the green bars show the rates for women, for each province. The grey and green broken lines show the total standardised rates of use, again grey for men, green for women.


16

F. Standardised rate of use: hospital and outpatient care

TOTAL


Percentage of out-patient care 59,55%

Max/min ratio of out-patient care percentage (by district)

1,78

Percentage of outpatient care, total and by region

59.55

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Perc

enta

ge o

f outp

atient

H.C

. se

rvic

es

Flanders Brussels Wallonia TOTAL

This graph shows the percent-age of outpatient services (in-cluding hospital day admis-sions), i.e. the number of out-patient services provided as a percentage of total services (outpatient and hospital stays). As well as one bar per region, there is a bar for the whole Belgian population. A dotted line also shows this overall ratio.


17

Change over time in the percentage of outpatient care, by province

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Perc

enta

ge o

f outp

atient

H.C

. se

rvic

es

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Year

Namur

Antwerpen

Hainaut

Vlaams-Brabant

Brabant Wallon

TOTAL

Oost-Vlaanderen

West-Vlaanderen

Brussels

Liège

Luxembourg

Limburg

N.B.: A complementary document to this chapter, about the handling of patients per health care sector, is enclosed in this report (cf. page 34).


18

G. Standardised rate of use by reimbursement rate

TOTAL


Percentage provided under the preferential reimbursement rate 33,26%

Standardised rate of use with preferential reimbursement rate (per 100,000)

3.803

Standardised rate of use without preferential reimbursement rate (per 100,000)

1.826

Ratio Preferential rate /General rate 2,08


19

Standardised rate of use by reimbursement rate and by region

1,825.69

3,803.18

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

Sta

ndard

ised n

um

ber

of

H.C

. se

rvic

es

Flanders Brussels Wallonia TOTAL

TOTAL Preferential regimeTOTAL Normal regime

Preferential regimeNormal regime

This graph shows the stand-ardised rates of use with (in red) and without (in grey) the preferential reimbursement rate, by region and in total. The red and grey dotted lines show the overall standardised rates of use, with and without the preferential reimburse-ment rate, respectively.


20

H. Trends in standardised rates of use

TOTAL


Trend (2009-2019) -5,91%

Trend (2017-2019) -7,67%

Trends in the standardised rate of use per 100,000 insured persons, by region

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

Sta

ndard

ised n

um

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of

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es

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Year

Brussels

Wallonia

TOTAL

Flanders

This graph shows a coloured curve for each region and a black curve for the whole Bel-gian population. The x-axis shows the years, and the y-axis shows the standardised rate of use per 100,000 insured per-sons.


21

Trends in the standardised rate of use per 100,000 insured persons, by district

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

Sta

ndard

ised n

um

ber

of

H.C

. se

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es

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Year

La Louvière

Arlon

Verviers

Virton

Ieper

TOTAL

Mons

Oostende

Hasselt

Maaseik

Eeklo

This graph shows a coloured line for each district and a black line for the whole Bel-gian population. The x-axis shows the years, and the y-axis shows the standardised rate of use per 100,000 insured per-sons.

To better highlight changes over time, the rates shown are rolling averages of the rates for the three years preceding the year in question (including the year itself).

The graph only shows the five districts with the highest aver-age rates and the five districts with the lowest average rates over the last 3 years studied.


22

Rate

of use Annual increase

2019

(per 105 insured)

2009-2019

2017-2019

Struc-tural break

Pro

vin

ces

West Flanders 2540,1 -4,09% -3,56%

East Flanders 2115,77 -5,20% -5,95%

Antwerp 2610,39 -5,52% -8,74% **

Limburg 3008,07 -3,74% -3,86%

Flemish Brabant 2240,67 -5,84% -6,92%

Brussels 1618,65 -8,84% -9,71% ***

Walloon Brabant 1852,19 -7,11% -7,97%

Hainaut 2139,94 -6,88% -12,68%

Liège 1735,32 -7,50% -9,26%

Namur 1932,34 -6,21% -6,22%

Luxembourg 1583,18 -8,14% -10,48% *

Reg

ion

s Flanders 2478,83 -4,94% -6,12%

Brussels 1618,65 -8,84% -9,71% ***

Wallonia 1921,21 -7,05% -10,07% TOTAL 2207,38 -5,91% -7,67%

Trends in the rates of use, by province and region

This table shows the standardised rates of use (or of intervention) for the last year analysed (2019), but also the average rates of increase, by province, by re-gion and in total, for the longer period (2009-2019) and the shorter period (2017-2019).

The statistical significance has been calculated to show whether the change in data over the last three years of the period analysed differs from the change over the whole period, by province and by region. Linear regressions have therefore also been used. This method calculates a regression line by period studied (2009-2019 and 2017-2019). The slope of this line is the regression coefficient. The statistical significance reflects the size of the difference be-tween the regression coefficients in the various peri-ods analysed, i.e. whether or not trends have changed.

The asterisks show the level of statistical signifi-

cance of the data observed, with the following val-

ues: * Value from p ≤ 0.05 / ** Value from p ≤ 0.01

/ *** Value from p ≤ 0.001. If there is no asterisk,

the trend observed is not statistically significant.

‘NA’ is shown where the nomenclature codes se-lected for the analysis have not been used for the whole of the three-year period.


23

I. Geographical variations in standardised rates of use

TOTAL


Coefficient of Variation (2019) 26,52

Max/Min Ratio* of the standardised rates of use (by region)

1,53

Max/Min Ratio* of the standardised rates of use (by district)

3,19

Coefficient of Variation (2017-2019) 24,95

Coefficient of Variation (2009-2011) 17,48

Statistically significant difference? (p-value) Yes *

* An ‘NA’ result indicates a ratio which cannot be calculated, i.e. the minimum value = zero (cf. E. Standardised rate of use by gender and age

group)


24

‘Dot plot’ showing standardised rates of use by district, by gender

Woman + Man Woman Man

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

2,200

2,400

2,600

2,800

3,000

3,200

3,400

3,600

3,800

4,000

4,200

4,400

4,600

per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

Sta

ndard

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H.C

. se

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es

A dot plot is a distribution chart, which is useful for highlighting grouped data, gaps in distribu-tion and outlying values. Here, each dot represents the rate of use of a district, for its whole population or broken down by gender.

The rates are rounded to the nearest unit, ten, hundred, etc., depending on the value of the maximum rate, in order to bet-ter group the values.

The graph also shows, as ‘boxes’, the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles of the non-rounded standardised rates of use for all patients. The bottom line of the box represents the 25th percen-tile, while the upper line repre-sents the 75th percentile. The line inside the box represents the 50th percentile.


25

Map showing distribution of standardised rates of use, by district

On this map of Belgium, thin lines show the boundaries of the dis-tricts, while thick lines show the provincial borders. The districts are coloured using a colour scale based on the level of rate of use in the district compared to the Bel-gian average. This comparison is expressed as a percentage: e.g. 0% if the district rate is equal to the overall rate, 20% if the rate is 20% above the total rate, and -20% if the rate is 20% below the overall rate. The percentages are calculated using the mean stand-ardised rate of use of the last three years, and are displayed in bands of 20%. The following col-our coding applies:

Colour Category

More than 50%

Between 30% and 50%

Between 10% and 30%

Between - 10% and 10%

Between -30% and -10%

Between -50% and - 30%

Less than -50%

No use made


26

Map showing distribution of standardised expenditure, by district

On this map of Belgium, thin lines show the boundaries of the dis-tricts, while thick lines show the provincial borders. The districts are coloured using a colour scale based on the level of expenditure in the district compared to Bel-gian average expenditure. This comparison is expressed as a per-centage: e.g. 0% if expenditure in the district is equal to the overall expenditure, 20% if it is 20% higher, and -20% if it is 20% lower. The percentages are calculated using the mean standardised ex-penditure for the last three years and are displayed in bands of 20%. The following colour coding applies:

Colour Category

More than 50%

Between 30% and 50%

Between 10% and 30%

Between - 10% and 10%

Between -30% and -10%

Between -50% and - 30%

Less than -50%

No expenditure


27

‘Funnel plot’ showing the distribution of standardised rates of use by district,

by number of insured persons

Arlon

Virton

Eeklo

La Louvière

Oostende

Maaseik

Mons

Verviers

0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000

Number of insured persons

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

per

100,0

00 insu

red p

ers

ons

Sta

ndard

ised n

um

ber

of

H.C

. se

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es

Brussels

Luxembourg

Namur

Liège

Hainaut

Brabant Wallon

Brussel

Vlaams-Brabant

Limburg

Antwerpen

Oost-Vlaanderen

West-Vlaanderen

P10

P25

P50

P75

P90

TOTAL

In this graph, the standardised rate of use in a district is placed according to the size of its population. As well as the dots for districts, the confidence inter-vals (expected variation in the stand-ardised rate of use when the only source of variation is random) are also shown on the graph (horizontal percen-tile lines). These are independent of the size of the districts. The thicker horizon-tal line shows the national standardised rate of use. The outlier districts are in-dicated by values above P90 and below P10.

As long as the practice analysed only oc-curs once per year per insured, this graph can also be interpreted as a fun-nel plot. The confidence levels here are typically shaped like a funnel: for small population-sizes, the expected varia-tion is larger than for districts that are more populous. The curves shown by broken lines represent the 95% and 99.7% confidence intervals. The dis-tricts situated beyond the upper and lower limits of the 99.7% confidence levels are defined as ‘outliers’


28

J. Standardised healthcare expenditure borne by the insurance

TOTAL


Average annual expenditure (€) 7.875.930 Average cost per intervention (€) 30,94

Average annual expenditure per insured (€) 0,68 Max/Min Ratio* of expenditure per insured

(by region) 1,2

Max/Min Ratio* of expenditure per insured (by district)

2,2

* An ‘NA’ result indicates a ratio which cannot be calculated, i.e. the minimum value = zero (cf. E. Standardised rate of use by gender and age

group)


29

Standardised expenditure (per insured)

Pro

vin

ces

West Flanders 0,71 € East Flanders 0,6 €

Antwerp 0,7 € Limburg 0,82 €

Flemish Brabant 0,66 € Brussels 0,59 €

Walloon Brabant 0,68 € Hainaut 0,72 €

Liège 0,73 €

Namur 0,72 € Luxembourg 0,59 €

Reg

ion

s Flanders 0,69 €

Brussels 0,59 €

Wallonia 0,71 €

TOTAL 0,68 €

Regional and provincial distribution of standardised expenditure (2019)


30

Change over time in expenditure, by service and by nomenclature code

Nomenclature 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Average annual growth rate

450015-450026 15,60 15,68 15,91 16,15 16,08 16,41 16,00 16,45 16,45 16,45 16,79 0,74%

450516-450520 15,66 15,87 15,91 16,07 15,92 16,16 16,14 16,17 16,11 16,32 15,76 0,07%

451010-451021 20,76 21,08 21,19 21,43 21,25 21,64 21,69 21,70 21,69 21,92 21,83 0,50%

451135-451146 22,71 23,04 23,16 23,46 23,28 23,70 23,75 23,74 23,71 24,01 23,95 0,53%

451312-451323 44,80 45,45 45,58 45,95 45,80 45,78 46,36 46,26 46,72 46,96 47,11 0,50%

451356-451360 64,04 64,87 65,21 66,02 65,44 66,43 66,59 66,65 66,57 67,37 67,34 0,50%

451393-451404 49,03 49,87 50,07 50,66 50,15 50,98 51,17 51,23 51,19 51,81 49,57 0,11%

451430-451441 80,26 81,33 81,50 82,32 81,62 82,73 82,81 82,71 82,70 83,55 74,76 -0,71%

451474-451485 83,17 84,46 84,80 85,64 85,15 86,41 86,71 86,91 86,88 87,83 80,22 -0,36%

451511-451522 109,94 111,58 112,15 113,48 112,63 114,37 114,62 114,65 114,65 116,04 109,30 -0,06%

451710-451721 64,24 65,16 65,47 66,17 65,50 66,51 66,62 66,53 66,47 67,18 67,21 0,45%

451754-451765 95,15 96,51 96,92 97,99 97,13 98,65 98,83 98,83 98,82 99,94 100,04 0,50%

461510-461521 15,46 15,71 15,74 15,93 15,75 15,99 16,08 16,06 16,07 16,28 15,61 0,10%

462431-462442 79,88 80,54 81,16 82,07 81,41 82,54 82,69 82,71 82,66 83,60 83,50 0,44%

462512-462523 110,27 111,54 112,03 113,47 112,76 114,29 114,73 114,68 114,75 116,33 116,29 0,53%

462711-462722 0,00 0,00 65,72 65,70 64,44 67,85 67,44 66,86 67,50 68,47 68,29 0,48%

462755-462766 96,00 97,03 97,30 97,91 98,21 99,27 99,53 99,69 99,53 98,04 101,78 0,59%


31

4. KEY DATA SUMMARY

TOTAL PROVIDERS & PRESCRIBERS

Main healthcare providers: Radiology 99,00%

Main prescribers: Specialists in training 20,00%

RATE OF USE

Average number of interventions (per year) 254.558

Standardised rate of use (per 100,000 insured persons) 2207,38

≥ 2 occurrences per patient (2018)4 19.4%

Percentage of outpatient care 59,55%

POPULATION

Median age 63 years

Max/min ratio5 of the median age (by district) 1,5

Percentage of women6 56,91% NS

Ratio Preferential rate/General rate6 2,08 ***

TRENDS

Trend6 (2009-2019) -5,91% NS

Trend6 (2017-2019) -7,67%

GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS

Coefficient of variation6 (2009-2011) 17,48 *

Coefficient of variation6 (2017-2019) 24,95

Max/min5 Ratio of number of interventions6 (per 100,000 insured persons, by region) 1,53 ***

Max/min Ratio5 of number of interventions (per 100,000 insured persons, by district) 3,19

DIRECT EXPENDITURE

Average annual expenditure 7.875.930 €

Average annual expenditure per insured 0,68 €

Max/Min Ratio5 of expenditure per insured (by region) 1,2

Max/Min Ratio5 of expenditure per insured (by district) 2,2

Average cost of interventions 30,94 €

CODING VARIATIONS & PRACTICE ALTERNATIVES4

Variations in practice coding6 (by province) Yes ***

Variations in the choice of practice alternatives6 (by province) Yes ***

4 More detailed results are shown in a document enclosed to this report. 5 An ‘NA’ result indicates a ratio, which cannot be calculated, i.e. the minimum value equals zero. 6 If the result(s) show(s) a significant difference, the level of statistical significance is symbolized by one to three asterisks (in-

creasingly significant). Otherwise, NS is displayed (not significant).


32

5. APPENDICES

A. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)

Statistical significance of the differences observed in 2019

By region? Yes ***

By gender? No

By reimbursement scheme? Yes ***

By gender and per region? No

By reimbursement scheme and per region? Yes ***

By gender and per reimbursement scheme? No

By gender and reimbursement scheme and per region? No

In order to be able to assess the significance of the observed differences, an ANOVA analysis can be carried out.

The ANOVA analysis applied here examines each factor separately (region, gender and reimbursement scheme). The statistical significance of the observed

differences in the rate of use for each of these three factors is therefore first assessed separately.

On the other hand, the analysis is also applied in a multifactorial way, crossing two or three factors, in order to identify possible significant differences that

are more specific. For example, are there significant differences in the rate of use by gender at the regional level?

The asterisks represent the level of statistical significance of the observed data with the following values: * Value threshold of p ≤ 0,05 / ** Value

threshold of p ≤ 0,01 / *** Value threshold of p ≤ 0,001. The absence of an asterisk indicates that the difference observed is statistically insignificant.


33

B. Frequency of practice occurrences

Frequency Per year Per day

2 occurrences 13.0% 2.4%

≥ 3 occurrences 6.4% 0.1%

≥ 2 occurrences 19.4% 2.5%

Distribution of practice recurrences per year (2018)

Some practices may be billed several times for the same patient in the same year or even on the same day. This may be due to a repetition of the practice, but also to an anatomical effect, which may lead, depending on the organ con-cerned, to performing the same prac-tice bilaterally, which may therefore cause a double occurrence on the same day.

In order to interpret the results per day validly, it is useful to note that the same patient may be counted several times if, for example, he or she has received two identical services simultaneously, twice a year.

These frequency analyses of occur-rences are carried out over the year 2018 using the following databases: Documents P, ADH and SHA.

Values « n.a. » are indicated if the data

were not available at the time of this re-

port.


34

C. Patient care settings

Care Settings

Outpatient (private) 7.7%

Outpatient (polyclinic) 46.4%

(Day) Hospital 9.8%

Hospital (stay) 36.2%

Distribution of patient care settings in 2018

In addition to the chapter on standardised inpatient and outpatient use rates (see page 16), the analysis of patient care settings can be refined by identifying the outpatient (private and polyclinic) and inpatient (day or standard hospitalisation) sub-sectors.

These analyses are carried out over the year 2018 using the following databases: Documents P, ADH and SHA.

Values « n.a. » are indicated if the data were not available at the time of this report.


35

D. Coding variations and practice alternatives

Identification of alternatives by code grouping :

Nomenclature Code Group

Outpatient Inpatient Codegroup in Group 1 Codegroup in Group 2

450015 450026 1_Abdominal_X-Ray NA




451135 451146 2_Upper_Dig./Static NA




451312 451323 3_Digestive_Transit NA





451710 451721 4_Baryum_Enema NA




Depending on the nature of the practice and the analytical tools available, it may be possible to identify and define alternatives for carrying out this practice. In this case, the

nomenclature codes defined for the analysis of the practice are grouped according to one logic (Group 1) or two (Groups 1 and 2) following the cases. These groupings make

it possible to analyse whether or not the choices of these alternatives are homogeneous across the territory.

In addition, the analysis also covers the nomenclature codes in order to observe whether there are variations in the coding of the practice or in the choice of codes provided.

See page 4 for details about the NIHDI nomenclature codes selected for analysis.


36

Distribution of choice of practice alternatives, by codes Distribution of choice of practice alternatives, based on group 1

Significance of the variations observed in the choice of alternatives:

Significance By region By province

Based on codes *** ***

Based on group 1 *** ***

Based on group 2 - -

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Perc

enta

ge n

om

encla

ture

codes

FLANDERS

BRUSSELS

WA

LLONIA

West-Vlaanderen

Oost-Vlaanderen

Antw

erpen

Limburg

Vlaams-Brabant

Brussels(Prov)

Brabant Wallon

Hainaut

Liège

Nam

ur

Luxembourg

TOTA

L

450015-450026

450516-450520

451010-451021

451135-451146

451312-451323

451356-451360

451393-451404

451430-451441

451474-451485

451511-451522

451710-451721

451754-451765

461510-461521

462431-462442

462512-462523

462711-462722

462755-462766

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Perc

enta

ge g

roup c

odes

(Gro

up 1

)

FLANDERS

BRUSSELS

WA

LLONIA

West-Vlaanderen

Oost-Vlaanderen

Antw

erpen

Limburg

Vlaams-Brabant

Brussels(Prov)

Brabant Wallon

Hainaut

Liège

Nam

ur

Luxembourg

TOTA

L

1_Abdominal_X-Ray

2_Upper_Dig./Static

3_Digestive_Transit

4_Baryum_Enema

The asterisks represent the level of statistical significance of

the observed data with the following values: * Value thresh-

old of p ≤ 0,05 / ** Value threshold of p ≤ 0,01 / *** Value

threshold of p ≤ 0,001. The mention NS indicates that the var-

iations are not significant.