Relationship between use of increased primary health care and other out-patient care in a Swedish urban area. I. Utilisation of public primary health care.

The Swedish National Health and Medical Care program is currently undergoing a change. The aim of this gradual change is a more decentralized system where the primary care service is expanded to cater for the transfer of patients from the hospitals over to primary care. This study, which is one part of a longitudinal design aims to show changes in public utilization of the services of general practitioners and district nurses after the expansion of the Matteus Primary Health Care Centre (MPHCC), city of Stockholm. The analysis is based partly on the annual statistical records and partly on medical chart studies of visits to the general practitioner by a selected population. The results showed that the population in the study district made twice as many visits to general practitioners and district nurses after the establishment of the MPHCC. It was also shown that the number of individuals visiting the general practitioners more than doubled during an 18-month period following the expansion of MPHCC. These results corresponds well with the aims associated with the expansion in primary care in future medical care services.