The financing and organization of medical care for patients with end-stage renal disease in Sweden.
The total health care expenditure as a percentage of the gross domestic product in Sweden is 9.2%, and health care is funded by global budgets almost entirely through general taxation. The prevalence rate of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in Sweden is 756 per million. Fifty-two percent of ESRD patients have a functioning transplant. Almost all ESRD treatment facilities are public. Compared with other Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) countries, the salaries for both nephrologists and professional dialysis unit staff are low. Sweden's high cost per ESRD patient, relative to other DOPPS countries, may be a result of expensive and frequent hospitalizations and aggressive anemia treatment strategies.
Renal section, Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. bjornwik@yahoo.com
Björn
B
Wikström
Michael
M
Fored
Margaret A
MA
Eichleay
Stefan H
SH
Jacobson
D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000191:economics*; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000191:economics*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome