The Wait for Primary Care - an analysis of underlying factors variety in waiting time for primary care within the region of Västra Götaland, Sweden

Abstract

A frequently debated problem regarding Swedish healthcare is the ineffectiveness of the system and how people in need of care have to wait unjustifiably long time periods in order to get treatment. In 2009, Västra Götaland introduced a care choice reform (Vårdvalet), enabling private primary care providers to establish in the health care market and allowing the inhabitants to decide freely among the providers. One of the aims of the reform was to increase availability and lower the waiting time, but there are differences between the areas within Region Västra Götaland regarding how long the patients have to wait for a visit with their primary care provider. The goal of this study is to investigate the differences in waiting time between the areas in Västra Götaland and investigate factors that may affect the variety in waiting time, focusing on geography, income and proportion of elderly and individuals with a foreign background. This is done by comparing the availability in areas with high concentrations of the demographic attributes. Availability is primarily measured by the waiting time to first appointment with a physician but also the geographical distance to care providers is taken into account. The study found that geography does not seem to have any noteworthy impact on the availability in Västra Götaland in 2012. Instead, the main reason for differences in availability is due to socioeconomic factors such as income and proportion of population born abroad. For this reason, it is of interest to take these factors into special account when improving the availability in health care services.