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Portrait of Anna Glenngård. Photo.

Anna Glenngård

Assistant head Accounting and Corporate Finance, Department of Business Administration

Portrait of Anna Glenngård. Photo.

Exploring differences between public and private providers in primary care: Findings from a large Swedish region

Author

  • Anna Glenngård

Summary, in English

This study contributes to the sparse literature on differences between public and private primary care practices (PCCs). The purpose was to explore if differences in performance and characteristics between public and PCCs persist over time in a welfare market with patient choice and provider competition, where public and private providers operate under similar conditions. The analysis is based on data from a national patient survey and administrative registries in a large Swedish region, covering PCC observations in 2010 and 2019, i.e., the year after and 10 years after introducing choice and competition in the region. The findings suggest that differences across owner types tend to decrease over time in welfare markets. Differences in patients' experiences, PCC size, patient mix and the division of labour have decreased or disappeared between 2010 and 2019. There were small but significant differences in process measures of quality in 2019; public PCCs complied better with prescription guidelines. While the results demonstrate a convergence between public and private PCCs in regards to their characteristics and performance, differences in patients' experiences in regards to socioeconomic conditions persisted. Such unwarranted variation calls for continued attention from policy makers and further research about causes.

Department/s

  • Department of Business Administration

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Pages

219-233

Publication/Series

Health Economics, Policy and Law

Volume

18

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Topic

  • Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy

Keywords

  • Equity
  • patients' experiences
  • performance
  • primary care
  • public and private providers
  • quality
  • Sweden

Status

Published

Project

  • Public Management Research

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1744-134X