To a Public or Private Doctor? The Use of Medical Services by Children Aged 6 or Less in the Metropolitan Area of Finland
Abstract
Background
According to national health policy in Finland, the role of private services is to complement the public health care system. The aim of the study was to describe children’s use of both public and private medical services over a six-year period.
Methods
The sample consisted of children aged 6 or less whose place of residence was one of the three largest cities in the metropolitan area of Finland (Espoo, Helsinki, or Vantaa). Data on the children’s visits to public health centre doctors were compiled from the cities’ own registers, while data on visits to private doctors were obtained from the registers of the Social Insurance Institution. Data on utilization of public specialized health care were
compiled from the National Hospital Discharge Register maintained by the National Institute for Health and Welfare. The data covered the years from 2006 to 2011. The study investigated the number of children as a share of the total child population having visited the public, private, or both sectors, as well as the numbers of visits to each of the sectors.
Results
Four of five children visited a doctor at least once a year. One in six visited a doctor both at a public health centre and at a private clinic. Children who visited a private doctor had on average one visit more per child than children who visited a public health centre doctor. Nevertheless, the former had a smaller amount of visits and admissions to public specialized health care than the latter.
Conclusions
With regard to child medical care in the metropolitan area of Finland, private services do not function as a complementary but rather as a parallel system to the public health care system.
Authors
Jutta Järvelin, Lauri Virta, Hennamari Mikkola
Additional Information
- Peer-Reviewed: yes.
- Open Access: no.
- Cite as: Järvelin, J., Virta, L., & Mikkola, H. (2015). Hoitoon yksityiselle vai julkiselle sektorille? Alle 7-vuotiaiden lääkärissäkäynnit pääkaupunkiseudulla. Suomen lääkärilehti, 70(47), 3199–3205. https://www.laakarilehti.fi/tieteessa/terveydenhuoltoartikkelit/hoitoon-yksityiselle-vai-julkiselle-sektorille-alle-7-vuotiaiden-laakarissakaynnit-paakaupunkiseudulla/
