Quality comparisons between privately and publicly managed health care centres in a suburban area of Stockholm, Sweden.
As in many other countries, the health care system in Sweden is currently undergoing rapid changes. Within a framework of public financing, the delivery of health care is to an increasing extent being transferred to various entrepreneurs; private, public or cooperatives. A privately run, but publicly financed, health care centre was evaluated with regard to quality and costs. Quality was defined in terms of the central guidelines for Swedish primary health care: first level responsibility, accessibility, a holistic view of the patient, and continuity of care and safety. The services offered by the private health care centre were evaluated by different methods--questionnaires, health care utilization data and economic analyses--and found to be of similar quality but produced at a lower cost than by three publicly managed health care centres.
Hansagi
H
H
Department of Community Medicine, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.
Calltorp
J
J
Andréasson
S
S
D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D010067:Ownership; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013383:Suburban Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden