Grytten Jostein, Skau Irene, Sørensen Rune
Seksjon for samfunnsodontologi, Universitetet i Oslo, Postboks 1052 Blindern, 0316 Oslo.
Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2005 Oct 20;125(20):2812-4.
Fee-for-item payments, mainly from the National Insurance Administration, are the main source of remuneration for primary care physicians in Norway. The aim of the present study was to describe the development in the National Insurance Administration's expenditure for primary physician services before and after the introduction of a list patient scheme in 2001.
The analyses were performed on data from the National Insurance Administration and data on the number of physician in relation to population from Statistics Norway.
During the period 1998-2003, expenditure increased by 84%, from NOK 1.37 billion to NOK 2.52 billion. The main finding is that nearly all the increase can be explained by increases in the number of physicians, population size and the level of fees.
One interpretation of our findings is that to a large extent the National Insurance Administration's expenditure on primary physician services can be controlled by regulating the number of physicians and the level of fees.
