Helgi's Point - Doctors Consultations Per Capita

While the average number of doctor consultations per capita varies greatly across OECD countries, there are also significant differences among population groups within each country. Cultural factors appear to play a role in explaining some of the variations across countries, such as in Sweden, where the low number of doctor consultations may be explained partly by the fact that nurses play an important role in primary care. Also, certain characteristics of health systems may also play a role as demonstrated by the fee for service correlation (countries which pay their doctors mainly by fee-for-service tend to have above-average consultation rates such as in Japan and Korea). The international comparison suggests that Czechs are very "active" at visiting their doctors, nearly once a month on average. This is the fifth highest figure within the OECD. As Czechs contribute relatively little to the overall health care costs from their own pockets (around 15%), one can guess if Czechs are exceptionally sick or if they rather abuse the generous system.