Equity in health care utilization in Chile

International Journal for Equity in Health

Research

Alicia Núñez¹  Chunhuei Chi² 

[1] Departamento de Control de Gestión y Sistemas de Información. Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile, oficina 1304, Diagonal Paraguay 257, Santiago, Chile;School of Biological and Population Health Science, Oregon State University, 97331-5109, 013 Millam Hall, Corvallis, Oregon, USA;

关键词: Health Care Service;    Health Care Utilization;    Concentration Index;    Ordinary Less Square Model;    General Practitioner Visit;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-9276-12-58

 received in 2012-12-03, accepted in 2013-08-09,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

One of the most extensive Chilean health care reforms occurred in July 2005, when the Regime of Explicit Health Guarantees (AUGE) became effective. This reform guarantees coverage for a specific set of health conditions. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide timely evidence for policy makers to understand the current distribution and equity of health care utilization in Chile.The authors analyzed secondary data from the National Socioeconomic Survey (CASEN) for the years 1992–2009 and the 2006 Satisfaction and Out-of-Pocket Payment Survey to assess equity in health care utilization using two different approaches. First, we used a two-part model to estimate factors associated with the utilization of health care. Second, we decomposed income-related inequalities in medical care use into contributions of need and non-need factors and estimated a horizontal inequity index.Findings of this empirical study include evidence of inequities in the Chilean health care system that are beneficial to the better-off. We also identified some key factors, including education and health care payment, which affect the utilization of health care services. Results of this study could help researchers and policy makers identify targets for improving equity in health care utilization and strengthening availability of health care services accordingly.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Núñez and Chi; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013