[No "unnecessary" care when measured by American standards. The Oregon list tested at a department of otorhinolaryngology in Halmstad].

It is often asserted in the health care debate that stricter priority setting would be one way of solving some of the economic problems. However, comparison of the workload at a Swedish ENT department with the Oregon list, one of the strictest prioritisation instruments yet devised, suggests that this is not the case. After adaptation of the Oregon list to the norms of Swedish practice (e.g., current policy regarding tonsillectomy, as elicited from Scandinavian studies), very little of the remaining workload would not be approved according to the Oregon list. Thus the scope for economy would appear to derive from professional skill in the internal planning of diagnostic investigation and treatment, rather than from the application of prioritisation systems devised by others.