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PHP13 Geographical Inequalities of Home Care (Nursing) in Hungary

2011; Elsevier BV; Volume: 14; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jval.2011.08.1612

1524-4733

Zoltán Horváth, B. Molics, I. Ágoston, A. Sebestyén, I Boncz,

Global Health Care Issues

Home care (nursing) was introduced into the Hungarian basic health insurance package in 1996. The aim of our study is to analyze the geographical inequalities in home care (nursing) in Hungary. Data were derived from the nationwide administrative dataset of the National Health Insurance Fund Administration (OEP), the only health care financing agency in Hungary. The utilization of home care (nursing) services was measured by the number of patients and the number of visits. The geographical inequalities were calculated for county level. Both indicator was calculated to 10.000 population. The average number of patients in the Hungarian home care system was 50 / 10.000 population. We found the highest utilization in the following counties: Zala (65), Baranya (65), Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok (64), Vas (59), Csongrád (54), Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (54) and Gyõr-Moson-Sopron counties. The lowest utilization rate was measured in Komárom-Esztergom (43), Fejér (43), Nǒgrád (38) and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg (26) counties (all are for 10.000 population). The average number of home care visits was 1188 visits/10.000 population at national level. The number of home visits was the highest in Fejér (1342), Komárom-Esztergom (1333), Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok (1327), Nǒgrád (1310), Gyõr-Moson-Sopron (1285) counties. The lowest home visit rate was measured in Budapest (1162), Somogy (1142) and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg (614) counties (all are for 10.000 population). We found significant inequalities in the utilization of home care (nursing) in Hungary measured both by the number of patients and the number of visits per 10.000 population.