Regional variations in health care supply and their potential impact on health care utilisation in Germany

Abstract

An unequal regional distribution of physicians is a persistent policy concern both in terms of equity and efficiency. Equity concerns may be raised if a high physician density coincides with both, better medical outcomes and higher average income but not with higher need for health care. Efficiency concerns may be raised if a high physician density is associated with a high use of medical services, regardless of need. The aim of this presentation is first, to assess if ambulatory care physicians in Germany are distributed according to need using regression-based decomposition techniques and second, to analyse whether geographic variations in physician density are associated with the utilisation of health care services using spatial regression techniques.