Inclusiveness: specialist care services

Quick info
Data type	String
Scale	Multinomial
Value labels	NA (no information available)
Technical name	health_hc_djgen_incl_specialistcareservices
Category	Health and long-term care
Label	Inclusiveness: specialist care services
Related indicators	NA (no information available)

This indicator provides the specific social groups who are entitled to access specialist care services granted by national legislation. The variable is coded following the Art.13 of the Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention (1969) of the International Labor Organization –ILO–, which establishes the categories of services that medical care must comprise. This indicator is defined as specialist care at hospitals as in subsection (b) of the mentioned article. The indicator includes a scope of services such as hospital care, secondary care, tertiary care, surgery, among others.

Coding rules

The variable is coded following the Art.13 of the Medical Care and Sickness Benefits Convention (1969) of the International Labor Organization –ILO–, which establishes the categories of services that medical care must comprise. This indicator is defined as specialist care at hospitals as in subsection (b) of the mentioned article encompassing the following codes: hospital care, specialist physician service, outpatient specialist care, other specialists care, secondary care, tertiary care, surgery.

The code hospital care (301) refers to health services provided in hospitals, understood as “licensed establishments primarily engaged in providing medical, diagnostic and treatment services that include physician, nursing, and other health services to inpatients and specialized accommodation services required by inpatients” (OECD System of Health Accounts, p. 131). By hospital care, we refer generally to inpatient and/or out-patient care provided in general hospitals (for details, see OECD System of Health Accounts, p. 131). This code does not aim at care provided in facilities specialized in and restricted to, e.g., tuberculosis treatments in sanatorium, mental care, or residential care facilities.

The code specialist physician service (307 ) refers to specialist medical care or services by specialized medical practitioners. “These services relate to curative care involving a higher level of technology, which are expected to be consumed by selected cases of less frequent and more complex health care needs. …” (OECD System of Health Accounts, p. 86).

The code outpatient specialist care (308) refers to specialist medical care or services by specialized medical practitioners in outpatient practice. For a description of specialist care, see code “specialist physician services.” Specialist physician services are usually provided in hospitals. The code “outpatient specialist” refers to legislation explicitly listing specialist services in outpatient practice. The latter would indicate healthcare systems that allow the patient to choose between specialists in different settings.

The code other specialists care (309) refers to specific specialist services without referring to the general inclusion of specialist medical care in the benefits package.

Secondary care (320) refers to healthcare provided by medical specialists/ consultants, typically in community hospitals providing healthcare beyond basic and general medicine.

Tertiary care (321) consists of healthcare provided by medical specialists/consultants, typically in university or teaching hospitals, with sophisticated technical support (laboratory, CT diagnostics, etc.)

The code surgery (323 ) is used when Tertiary care consists of healthcare provided by medical specialists/consultants, typically in university or teaching hospitals, with sophisticated technical support (laboratory, CT diagnostics, etc.)

Bibliographic info

Citation: Codebook (in publication)

Related publications: NA (no information available)

Misc

Project manager(s): Alexander Polte; Matías Acosta; Mai Mahmoud

Data release: 31.10.2024

Revisions: NA (no information available)

Sources

National legislation