[EQ] Switzerland: Primary care physician supply and other key determinants of health care utilisation

Primary care physician supply and other key determinants of health care utilisation:
The case of Switzerland

Andre Busato Institute for Evaluative Research in Orthopaedic Surgery - University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Beat Kuenzi, Swisspep - Institute for Quality and Research in Healthcare -  Guemligen, Switzerland
BMC Health Services Research – January 2008, 8:8doi:10.1186/1472-6963-8-8

URL: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/8/8

PDF file [28p] at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6963-8-8.pdf

Background
The Swiss government decided to freeze new accreditations for physicians in private practice in Switzerland based on the assumption that demand-induced health care spending may be cut by limiting care offers. This legislation initiated an ongoing controversial public debate in Switzerland. The aim of this study is therefore the determination of socio-demographic and health system-related factors of per capita consultation rates with primary care physicians in the multicultural population of Switzerland..."

Conclusions
The study documents a large small-area variation in utilisation and provision of health care resources in Switzerland. Effects of physician density appeared to be strongly related to Swiss language regions and may be rooted in the different cultural backgrounds of the served populations.

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