Study: Finland has ten most efficient hospitals in Nordic Countries
Difference would be even greater if pay level were taken into consideration
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The ten most efficient hospitals of the Nordic Countries are all in Finland, according to a study conducted by the Centre for Health Economics (CHESS) run by the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) , and by its counterparts in the other Nordic Countries.
In the study, experts from the Nordic Hospital Comparison Study Group examined hospital stays, out-patient visits, and costs of 187 hospitals in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The researchers collected a total of 728 observations.
The same kinds of classifications are in use in all Nordic Countries, which allow a comparison of the data.
The results of the study are astounding. The ten most efficient hospitals were found in Finland. Their names are not being disclosed yet, because the study is still continuing, says Research Professor Unto Häkkinen.
Although the most efficient hospitals of the Nordic Countries are to be found in Finland, not all of Finland’s hospitals were seen as efficient. Some individual hospitals in the other Nordic Countries bypassed the Finnish average in efficiency.
The average efficiency rate in Finland was still higher than the others - 78 per cent, as against 68 per cent in Denmark and Norway, and 54 per cent in Sweden.
Häkkinen says that the trend was apparent already in the first comparison in 1999. At that time, the comparison was between Finland and Norway, with the situation in the previous year under examination. Now Sweden and Denmark were also involved, and the information is from five years back.
The efficiency of health care is often explained through the low pay scales for Finnish hospital workers. The CHESS study excluded the pay levels, so they do not explain the differences.
Häkkinen notes that the difference in Finland’s favour would be even greater if the result had depended on the wage level.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 20.9.2007 - TODAY |
 Study: Finland has ten most efficient hospitals in Nordic Countries |
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