Why is primary health care utilization per person almost twice as high in for example the Stockholm region compared to the Östergötland region? The difference in health care utilization between Swedish regions is large and has increased over time. Researchers from Karlstad, Gothenburg and Verona have begun searching for the answers.
In the research project "Regional variation in health care utilization: explaining the large differences using evidence from regional migration", researchers from Karlstad Business School and University of Gothenburg, will address what explains and drives the increasing and large regional variations.
The project will use an empirical approach were individuals moving between regions in Sweden will be compared to non-movers in terms of health care seeking behavior. By analyzing a large number of movers over time using Swedish register data, it will be possible to capture if the difference in health seeking behavior between regions is mostly explained by health care need and demand or by place-specific factors (such as supply and access to care).
"The results will be important to understand if and to what extent there is (in)equity in the regional differences, and as an input to legislators for potential health policy reforms", says Niklas Jakobsson, Associate Professor in Economics at Karlstad Business School.
Participants in the research project are: Professor Mikael Svensson and PhD student Naimi Johansson at Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, of the Institute of Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Gothenburg, Niklas Jakobsson at Karlstad Business School and Simona Gamba at the University of Verona in Italy.
The Swedish Research Council supports the research by a 3.4 million SEK grant for the period 2019 to 2021.
