[Transitioning From a Pilot Program of Home Care for Acute Symptoms to Long-Term Care Services Planning].

The Ministry of Health and Welfare's "Pilot Program of Home Care for Acute Symptoms", launched in 2024, and complementary measures for long-term care services are introduced in this article. The goal of the pilot program is to provide appropriate home medical care to specific emergency patients as an alternative to hospitalization, allowing the extension of emergency care from hospitals to home and residential institutions and connecting long-term care resources during and after acute care. Given that many of those targeted by the pilot program are individuals with mobility issues or who require long-term care, and thus subject to higher levels of treatment difficulty and care service demand, the Ministry has relaxed the rules initially set for this program. Now, cases that meet the conditions for long-term care benefits under the "Regulations on Application and Payment for Long-Term Care Services" are eligible to access long-term care services during the home care period within the scope of care provided by the home care team without adjusting payment limits or co-payment terms. For institutional residents, additional incentive indicators for the pilot program have been incorporated into the "Plan for Minimizing Outpatient Visits by Institutional Residents". In summary, these measures are designed to improve the efficiency and quality of home care provided to address acute symptoms while optimizing the use of long-term care resources to address future medical and caregiving challenges in Taiwan's future super-aged society.