Regional variation in health care utilization in Sweden - the importance of demand-side factors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Differences in health care utilization across geographical areas are well documented within several countries. If the variation across areas cannot be explained by differences in medical need, it can be a sign of inefficiency or misallocation of public health care resources.

Methods

In this observational, longitudinal panel study we use regional level data covering the 21 Swedish regions (county councils) over 13 years and a random effects model to assess to what degree regional variation in outpatient physician visits is explained by observed demand factors such as health, demography and socio-economic factors.

Results

The results show that regional mortality, as a proxy for population health, and demography do not explain regional variation in visits to p

SUBMITTER: Johansson N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5987462 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature