title: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis to Assess Impact of Introduction of Co-Payment on Emergency Room Visits in Cyprus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A co-payment fee of EUR10 was introduced in Cyprus, in order to cope with overcrowding of emergency room services. The scope of this paper is the assessment of the short-term impact of this measure.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used an interrupted time-series autoregressive integrated moving average model, and we analyzed official data from Cyprus' largest emergency room facility for three years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Co-payment is associated with a 16% statistically significant reduction of emergency room visits. No impact was observed in categories of teenagers, children, infants, and people over 70 years old.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Co-payment was proven to be effective in Cyprus' emergency room setting and is expected to lessen congestion in the emergency room. The price insensitivity of people aged over 70 years, teenagers, children and infants, merits additional research for the identification of the underlying reasons.
authors.affiliation: Health Care Management Programme, Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus. p.petrou@gesy.org.cy.|Health Insurance Organization, Nicosia, Cyprus. p.petrou@gesy.org.cy.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petrou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003535:Cyprus; D003669:Deductibles and Coinsurance / Q000191:economics; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D065186:Interrupted Time Series Analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult