Distribution of Health Care Resources in Austria – Inequality Assessment of Different Health Care Resources at Different Points in Time

Abstract

A major objective of health policy in many countries is to avoid inequality in the distribution of health care resources. Our goal is to provide initial insight into the inequality in the regional distribution of different health care resources per capita and the variation of the inequality over time in Austria to provide starting points for policy recommendations and international comparisons. We also aim to examine whether the type of inequality measure and need-adjustment has an impact on the results. The findings reveal that inequality in the distribution of GPs with contracts with social health insurance is comparably small, but we observe an increase in inequality from 2002 to 2014. In general, there is a clear trend toward private physicians, of whom private specialists preferably open their practices in densely populated areas. Despite considerable reductions in public hospital beds between 2002 and 2014, the distribution across regions remains almost constant. The use of different inequality measures and need-adjustment provides additional insights so that custom-made policies to reduce inequalities can be developed.