Expenditure on general practitioners (GPs) amounted to R10.3 billion, an increase of 7.55% from R9.6 billion in 2018. Hospital visits accounted for 13.4% of expenditure on GPs, with an average of R1,073 per event<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Visits out-of-hospital averaged R408<\/strong>. The CMS found that restricted schemes paid higher fees per event compared with open schemes.<\/p>\n Payments to medical specialists amounted to R13.5 billion or 7.26% of total healthcare benefits paid in 2019. Around 62% of expenditure related to treatment in-hospital at an average of R1,621<\/strong> per event, and R1,243<\/strong> per event out-of-hospital.<\/p>\n Breakdown by profession<\/strong><\/p>\n The below graph shows benefits paid to different disciplines per event (visit) for both in and out-of-hospital.<\/p>\n The CMS said that total benefits paid per event is calculated as total benefits paid (from risk + savings) divided by the number of visits to a provider.<\/p>\n It noted that the cost (or benefits paid) per event must be interpreted with caution as the calculation does not consider other factors such as the number of hours spent per event, etc.<\/p>\n Events paid in-hospital from medical savings accounts of beneficiaries make up a very small part of the expenditure and relate to mainly dentist visits and dental specialist visits, it said.<\/p>\n Yearly change<\/strong><\/p>\n The below table compares the year-on-year percentage change of average expenditure per event.<\/p>\n The CMS said that surgical specialist visits out-of-hospital increased by over 22% to R1,369<\/strong> per event\/visit in 2019 compared with R1 116 per event in 2018, while out-of-hospital pathology increased by over 19% to R4,049<\/strong> per event.<\/p>\n Similarly, supplementary and allied health professionals visits increased by over 15% to R1,527<\/strong> per event.<\/p>\n The average in-hospital expenditure per event for radiology increased by over 13% to R2,109<\/strong> compared with R1,852<\/strong> in 2018, with average events for pathology in-hospital increasing by over 10% to R4,674<\/strong>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/CMS-1.png\")
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